Moonbite
by KoshKing777
Summary: Alternate Reality. Because Kaede never discovered her mom's postcard to Rin clearing him of any involvement with her death, Kaede has continued to hate Rin and enjoy tormenting him. As a result, Rin has developed an acute fear of women. Darkfic, Whumpage
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, it is my pleasure to announce a new fic in the works from myself, KoshKing777. This piece is an Alternate Reality fic, often with generous helpings of Whumpage and Darkfic (there will also be potent Limes in later chapters; warnings will be issued beforehand). There are some instances of strong language as well.

The idea behind this reality is that the moment never happened where Kaede discovers Rin's postcard from her mom. Due to this having never occurred, she still isn't over Rin's hypothetical role in her mother's death; indeed, she seems to be slowly getting more violent towards Rin, frustrated that he's still alive while her mother's memory is drifting farther and farther away (read: Kaede is sanity-challenged and sociopathic). As a result of this continued violent harassment, Rin has contracted a severe bout of gynophobia (fear of women), which has rendered him much more distant from anything involving women.

I'm going to attempt (for the first time) to use the Japanese honorifics in my writing. It is likely that I will mess these up at some stage; when this occurs, feel free to point it out so that I can change it. As a matter of fact, feel free to comment on any and every thing you like or dislike about any aspect of the story at all, including where it's going. I do have a 24-step plot written out, but I'm always up for altering it based on reviewers' input.

Chapters will be moderately long, and often long in coming, since I have an unfortunately demanding life, time-wise. :(

Some characters from the visual novels will appear (most will not play huge roles besides Sakura), so if you are interested in what they look like, you shouldn't have too much trouble looking them up on Google. I can also send you image links if you'd like.

So without further posturing and posing on my part, let us begin!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shuffle!, as it happens.

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 1**

My dream self swam through a temple of fetid, thick violet water, passing between two black spiral columns to enter an enchanted, dimly-lit auditorium, filled from the roof to the floor with striped people.

I should specify: striped girls. Everything, everyone was radiating the essence of GIRLS...with Zebra stripes. I could see why Itsuki thought this would be a great secret meeting to gate-crash. My best friend was nowhere to be seen now, though.

My chest began to clench nervously as I tiptoed my way around to the back of the room. What kind of hellish place was this? The central stage, which was currently being occupied by a tiara-wearing Asa, had two large, winged ram statues that gave off a horrific vibe to me. I tried to ignore these statues, all the women, and the broad-winged raven that was circling over the crowd like a vulture, and focused on what my sempai was saying.

"Below the valedictorian precipice of ziggurats, there lies five-hundred steel baseball bats in a slaughterhouse!" the dream Asa said. I blinked – I should have known better than to draw sense from a speaker's words in a dream. Despite it being nonsense, all the women in the audience furrowed their eyebrows and slowly nodded their hands in understanding.

Asa seemed to be important in this cult, for some reason. Everyone's eyes were glued to her like little orange laser beams.

"In other words, who here has come from a home of abuse?" Asa continued. Well, that was definitely me, but I wasn't about to raise my hand if I was the only person in the room who did. Asa and I looked around for a few moments, but none of the zebra women seemed inclined to admit their abuses, if they had any. "Well, come on, I know some of you have had abuse! Raise your hand!" she looked directly at me; Asa was someone I never could say no to, so I accidentally raised my hand, totally forgetting that I wasn't supposed to be here.

Every single zebra girl in the room swiveled their heads as one to look at me with their shiny orange eyes, sending with them a chill of more dread than I'd ever experienced before.

"Rin-kun!!!" Asa exclaimed, waving at me, rather chipper for the eerie setting. "You have been abused, right? What are you going to do about it?"

I was feeling horribly queasy, and had half a mind to run out of the room, but I stayed and stared nervously back at my sempai, my skin clamming up. Would these damned people QUIT staring at me?!?

"Women are your friends, Rin-kun; in order to realize that, however, you'll need to insert yourself in their souls."

Well that was a rather complete 180 change from her previous subject. I suppose what she was saying has some merit, though...I could see myself easing into female company in order to appreciate them more...

"You need to have sex, Rin-kun! That's the best way!!!" Asa sang. I felt the blood drain from my face. That was definitely NOT going to happen. The ghastly women surrounding me, piling up on top of each other to get a better look at me with their bright orange eyes, began chanting: "Sex-sex-sex-sex-sex-sex-sex..."

"stop...p-please..." I mouthed, but my mental grip was still out to lunch.

"SEX-sex-SEX-sex-sex-sex..."

"STOP them, Sempai! Tell them to STOP!!!" I shouted hoarsely through my terror.

"SEX-SEX-SEX-SEX-SEX..."

"I'm sorry, Rin-kun, but it's time for you to give in." Exactly as Asa finished her sentence, the zebra women jumped towards me in midair, their silhouettes blotting out any light from the room. I felt their fangs and claws stab me in my mouth, my heart, and my stomach.

Black blood bubbled out and down my face, and I choked on my ripped tongue as I tried to scream.

"Rin-kun..." a miniscule, ominously familiar voice whispered in the air.

The women...the women...the damn women, circling me, cutting me, eating me! I can't take their orange, glimmering stares. I start to retch out of pure horror.

"Rin-kun, wake up!" Kaede's voice slaps me awake.

I looked up and around, thankful that I was back in my room and that everything was much more sane than it was just before. Unfortunately, Kaede was standing directly over me. I don't like to show any weakness to her, but I was just a little bit frazzled this morning, so I screamed like a little girl, sat straight up, and scootched directly backwards into the far corner of my bed.

"It's alright, Rin-kun...were you having a scary dream?" Kaede asked with abnormal sweetness. Somehow those normal words took on a malevolent, sinister air when leaving her demonically perfect, full, sensual lips.

"Um, good...I mean, yes..." I said, feeling about two inches tall. Why couldn't she leave me alone, for ONCE?!? God, what did I ever do to deserve this?

"I'm sorry about that," she said, seemingly with genuine concern. "I, um...I thought I'd cook you breakfast this morning?"

I was so surprised that I burped, but I quickly swallowed the resulting bile back down. "Y-you did?" What the SHIT? Since when did she even know how to cook? But sure enough, she was holding a plate with an aromatic omelet in front of me.

I was determined to get back in control of the situation, so I scooted back over to my pillow and took the plate from her. "Um, thanks? I appreciate it?"

She just smiled and nodded reassuringly. I was lost beyond belief, but I decided to just go ahead and go with the flow; I slashed through the egg with the fork and took a bite.

"Mmm, this is nice..." I started to say, but I soon realized that something was wrong. I chewed once more, and sticky, slimy, fetid lumps burst across my teeth. They caked onto my molars, and wouldn't unstick. Something was definitely wrong.

I could hardly believe what I was tasting, but I lifted the top flap of the omelet open and, sure enough, the omelet was filled all the way through with steaming shit. I'm not kidding; there was POOP in the fucking omelet that I just fucking took a bite out of.

I roared with rage, disgust, panic, shock, and several other prickly emotions. "KAEDE!!! WHAT THE FUCK?!? Did you take a shit in this omelet?"

I wiped the demanding look off my face as I soon as I saw her own look: her dull blue eyes had emptied out of any ties to reality, blank and disconcertingly wide. I knew from personal experience that that was a bad look.

As I promptly spat out as much of the poop-filled food as I could (it was really clingy to my teeth and tongue, I found), I noticed a quick motion on Kaede's part. Before I could do anything, however, she shoved a drawstringed knapsack over my head and choked it tight around my neck. Without warning, she started punching me with vengeful, murderous strength, and she knocked me off the bed and onto the floor.

My own nausea climbed as I collapsed facefirst on the floor and I began to vomit uncontrollably, in my own face. Despite my fallen state, my housemate continued to whale on me for a good ten more seconds, knocking my glass eye out into the goop.

I was trying not to make any noise, but I was unable to breathe at all, and I could feel warm blood dripping from the back of my skull as she kept beating it...so I began to yell out in pained panic, repeatedly.

This only seemed to excite her more, as she flipped me over and punched me five times in the face. I blacked completely out until she kicked my nuts once.

Kaede suddenly removed the knapsack, and her face seemed to have contorted into something more animal than human. "Good morning," she told me in a deep, abnormal voice and unceremoniously got up and walked off.

I lay in mental and physical exhaustion for a long time, watching in dumb fascination of the fan's blades swinging round. What is the point of anything I do? No matter how many things I do to show her I care...cooking for her, shopping, doing the laundry, giving her due space...she never treats me any different than this. I don't know how much more of this is worth living through.

Everything HURTS. I don't mean the kind of hurt that occurs when you stub your toe, fall down a flight of a stairs, or even accidentally staple your finger. That stuff is nothing. This kind of hurt rips into the very core of your being, annihilating every cell in your body with gushing anguish. It makes you want to kill yourself at the soonest available SECOND, just to find an escape. That kind of pain.

I squinted, pursed my lips, and sat up, lifelessly staring with my one eye at the blood and vomit around me. She had apparently taken to dump her omelet on my stomach, also, being that there was a warm pile of feces heaped on my belly button. This was an awesome start to a day.

My wardrobe has been slit through with scissors and knives countless times by my lovely housemate and past friend. Due to this, I have to sew one pair back together every night, and hide it under my mattress so she won't find it and cut it.

Glaring in exhaustion at the mattress, I reached under it and withdrew my school uniform. Time to get started and get as far away as possible.

Before I went to the bathroom, I quickly scooped up my blood-coated glass eye.

* * *

My name is Rin Tsuchimi. I'm a student at National Verbena Academy, one of the first schools to welcome the integration of human, god, and demon students. I find myself to be pretty kind in general (look where that's gotten me), but I sometimes wish I was more like Itsuki.

Said best friend was walking next to me on our way to school, musing out loud: "You know...I'm beginning to think...that the women of our school are FANTASTIC! Do you know how many D-cups go here?" Scratch that.

"N-"

"SIXTY-SEVEN! How genetically superior are we, anyway? Our school is so freaking..."

"Itsuki, I don't remember anyone giving you permission to say words." My other best friend Mayumi-chan walked between us, currently glowering at Itsuki, not without due cause. Compared to him, Mayumi is a shining lamp of brilliance.

"Sacré bleu! It's the girl so estrogen-challenged she makes washboards look curvaceous!" Itsuki said tastelessly in reference to Mayumi. While true, her lack of femininity in general is what makes her one of the few females I'm not scared out of my skin to be around. I'd never admit that to her in so many words, though.

"I don't even know what sacré bleu means, anyway, isn't that mind-boggling?" he continued, still under the impression that he was halfway intelligent.

"Not really," Mayumi and I said in unison.

"...I believe it means 'Sacred Blue,' Itsuki-kun," Matsuri said from my other side. She's an incredibly quiet, withdrawn and polite girl, and the fourth member in our little band of quasi-friendship. Weirdly, though, she dresses and acts exactly like a guy at every moment of the day. Which I'm fine with, being that I can't stand women. Not that I hate them (far from it, I can appreciate beauty as easily as Itsuki), but being in close proximity with women can cause me sharp pain, nausea, panic, spontaneous urination, fainting, and other unattractive reactions. So in turn, I try my best to imagine women I'm often around as being men, which can save me lots of bodily difficulties. This is easiest with the hyper-masculine Matsuri and Mayumi.

"Tch, well that's stupid," Itsuki snorted. He looked up and down the street for cute girls, and having no luck, turned his misguided sights onto Mayumi.

"Hey, you know, Mayumi-chan, those are some really cute pipe socks you have on today!"

"By the way, Itsuki-kun, I've picked out a really cute gravestone for you. Do you want me to introduce you to it?"

It's not that I sought out these two girl friends (note the space between those two words) of mine for their masculinity, it just sort of happened to me. We kind of fell together, the four of us, as the unwanted stepchildren of the school. That was totally cool with me; I absolutely despise anyone noticing me.

"Yo Rin-kun! What the crap are you doing, wearing make-up?" Itsuki demanded of me. I should explain: I've recently taken to applying make-up on the numerous skin miscolorings Kaede has been supplying to me ever since her dad went on his thirteen-month-long business trip. I hope it will keep people's focus off her and I's personal problem since, frankly, it's no one's business but ours.

"Oh, Rin-kun, is that true?" Matsuri put in airily, running a hand through her short, vanilla-brown hair and looking shakily into my eyes. I tried to smile, but it didn't even come close to reaching my eyes; my whole face was still sore like hell.

"That's not really a good idea, man...girls will see that as a sign of weakness! Besides Matsuri, that is!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she rumbled at him with a glare.

"I don't think you should be talking, Itsuki-kun, seeing as you have all the strength of character of a cactus," Mayumi rubbed in, casting a sweet smile at me as she did.

"Look, it's not me, okay? Rin-kun's actually the highest candidate on this year's Top Ten Most Likely To Be A Closet Homosexual. All I'm saying is, putting on foundation isn't going to win him any hetero points."

"I appreciate the concern, but it's not a big deal, really," I said with a sigh. So much for camaraderie.

The four of us ended up arriving at school fashionably late, as usual. Asa, my closest friend from the next-highest grade, jumped out of conversation with her friends (including Kaede, who was smiling, giggling, and laughing in her fake peppy-schoolgirl mode) and sang out a really loud greeting to me, waving obnoxiously. I looked coolly over at her and made a little wave in response, following Itsuki over to our conjoining lockers.

"So. Rin-kun. I have something I've been meaning to ask you," the gold-haired pervert said.

"...I'm listening," I muttered, peevishly retrieving my things from the too-small box.

"How big are Kaede's areolae, anyway? I mean, I assume you've seen them, being that you live with her and everything."

I stared at him emotionlessly. "I'm don't know what areolae are, and I suspect I wouldn't want to."

Itsuki's left eye looked like it was about to explode from twitching.

"Hey! Stop ruining Rin-kun's purity!" Matsuri interjected, walking between us in her boy's uniform. "Why would such a thing matter, anyway?"

"Ohh, it matters. It matters alright..." Itsuki's eyes glazed over.

"Anyway," she breathed, spinning to face me. " I'll see you at lunch, okay?"

"Sure. Have a good day," I said glumly.

As she turned and walked away, Itsuki pulled up next to me (way too close for comfort). "Damn, she digs you, man. You know, I WOULD recommend that you take her out and bang her, but uh...I reckon that would give you even more homosexual points."

"I don't think she's interested, Itsuki, trust me," I returned dryly. As a useful (in a way) side effect to my fear of women, I've also become weirdly sensitive to their pheromones. As girls around me get more turned on and interested in physical contact, as a self-defense mechanism I've started to smell a very pronounced differentiation in the air around them when this occurs (that way, I'll be ready to make a run for it if they choose to strike; I sometimes have this problem with Asa-sempai and Kareha-sempai). While I have sensed augmented sexual feelings before in Matsuri and Mayumi (something I generally try to avoid as to not trespass upon their personal feelings), I'm almost positive they weren't directed at me.

One of the only girls I know whose pheromones I haven't smelled is Kaede...I'm not sure if this is reflective of our convoluted history together, or because she's legitimately never turned on when I'm around. Or both.

Regardless, I'm glad for women everywhere that Itsuki doesn't have this ability.

* * *

In class, just after lunch, Nadeshiko-sensei was in the middle of one of her impenetrable history lectures when I felt a sharp jab from the side. I turned and glared at Itsuki, the deliverer of the jab.

He leaned over and whispered very softly, "I want cream soda!"

"...that's nice."

"I want it really, REALLY bad! Cream sodaa!" he said in a harsher whisper.

"Fine, I give you permission after school to go buy some cream soda."

"YEUS! Score," Itsuki grunted in excess exhilaration.

"Tsucchi," a stern voice elicited from directly in front of me. I swung my head back straight ahead and made an audible grunt in alarm; Nadeshiko-sensei was standing practically on top of me, her monstrous breasts swinging like apocalyptic pendulums in front of my horrified eyes. Why was it ALWAYS me? I heard Kaede make a contemptuous chuckle at my situation.

"Y-yes, Sensei?

"Could it be that you find soda more interesting than my lecture?" Her spooky, fiery eyes pierced directly into my soul, bringing with them the razor-sharp bite of delirious fear.

"Yes, I-I-I MEAN, no, Sensei. I find it very interesting," I murmured. Kaede gave another antagonistic giggle.

My sensei sighed and knocked twice on the top of my skull, her right breast bouncing disturbingly out-of-control from the movement. Each soft impact her knuckles delivered brought with them the searing, static shock of pain that contact with women always gives me. "Tsucchi...always the trouble student. Does anything EVER go on inside your head?"

"I-I'm sure it's just coincidence, Sensei."

"You're consistently unfocused; more so every day, in fact. I think stricter consequences may be in order." After a moment of thought, she supplemented her words: "I want you to take forty laps around the track after school today. In your underwear."

My idiotic classmates laughed. I attempted to reason with her. "But Sensei, I have cooking club after this."

More laughter, especially from Kaede (the person whose fault it was that I was even in the stupid club, under threat of castration).

"Well I guess you won't be going today, will you?"

I sighed and hung my head in resignation for the rest of the lecture, often feeling Kaede's penetrating, goblin-like leer focused condescendingly on my body. When the bell rang, I grit my teeth, kicked my chair out of the way and stomped out of the classroom to head down to the locker room.

"Rin-kun, wait up!" I heard Mayumi's tomboyish voice say. I spun around to see her scramble up to see me.

"Yes, Mayumi-chan, what can I do for you?" I growled, feeling very angry at everyone at the moment.

She seemed to struggle with words for a moment. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for what happened in class. Everyone was acting totally uncalled-for."

"Thanks," I sighed, deciding to remove her from my mental list of people I was angry at. "I don't even know if I can complete forty laps of that thing, though. I AM really tired of being everyone's laughing stock, though."

"W-well, I can come watch, and give you water, if you want..."

"Don't you have journalism club, like right now?"

"Yeah, I do, but I can skip it."

I shook my head vehemently. "I appreciate it, but don't worry about me. It'll end up okay somehow. At least this is the last time I'll ever talk to Itsuki-kun in class. I'll, uh...I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Ah, right, okay..." She was acting downright suspicious. "I'll be going then! Bye, Rin-kun!"

I waved goodbye to her and made my way down to the recreational (psshht, yeah right, recreation) wing of the school.

* * *

After somehow jogging my way through all forty laps (it was now nearing the latter part of sunset), my sadistic teacher finally allowed me to leave the school grounds. I lethargically donned my uniform and wandered back home...only to find the door locked.

I knocked at the door about twenty times, and then looked up to see Kaede's misleadingly beautiful face staring down at me, empty of every emotion save hateful condescension. She wordlessly pulled her head back, and although I waited a couple minutes to see if she'd let me in, I knew from experience that she was pulling one of her special Rin-abusing sessions.

This used to bother me slightly, but this is really so tame compared to all the other things she's done to me that I couldn't really give a shit less about it.

I decided this was a great opportunity to wander around town like an idiot. After doing this for about ten minutes, I found myself at the giant, yellowed stone dam overlooking the lake. I realized that I was wholly exhausted, so I sat down on the ridge, promptly collapsing facefirst in my own lap and falling asleep.

* * *

When I awoke, it was late at night. The moon shone brilliantly, almost at the apex of its route of nightly travel.

I smiled up at it, itching my legs absentmindedly. The moon has always been one of my closest friends, one of the only constant companions in my life. I've spent quite a few nights in its company.

I figured I might as well try out the front door once more before I resigned myself to sleeping outside, so I padded across town and arrived "home." To my nonchalant surprise, it was actually unlocked, so I let myself in.

A terrifying influx of female voices coming from the family room greeted me. 'Great,' I thought, 'Not another girls' night.'

Kaede sometimes invites her friends over (which is fine), but often finds ways to do so at my expense. Tonight's guests were her best friend, Daisy (a violet-haired god with a reputation for being incessantly giddy and excited about everything), my fellow cooking club members Kareha and Asa, and a god with hot pink hair whose name I always forget (although people call her Cin sometimes, which is what I call her).

"Wow, you look horrible. What were you doing?" Kaede snickered at me, her face scrunched up grotesquely. I kind of wanted to take a picture at show it to her. I would certainly see that disgusting sight in my dreams tonight; I always do.

"I was sleeping." I felt no need to elaborate beyond that. I looked to the table and was depressed, but not surprised, to see the model ship I'd been working on (Napoleon's flagship) being used as a holding tray for their various appetizers. Clearly a couple spills had transpired already, judging from the caked yellow goop coating my work. "I see you borrowed my ship."

"Aw, you don't mind, do you?" Kareha said in her aggravatingly sugar-coated voice.

"No, it's okay, Kareha-sempai. Do whatever you want," I said, trying to be accommodating.

At this, Kareha let out a maniacal giggle. "You're so right, Kaede-chan! Rin-kun so easy to walk over! He has no backbone." Ugh.

Daisy drummed her hyperactive fingers on the table. "So we can add that to his list of deficiencies, then? Let's see, he's UGLY..."

"He's really, really stupid," Kaede backed her up, sipping her tea daintily.

"What did we talk about before? We came up with some good ones," Cin mused, trying to recall. I'm certainly glad I can provide entertainment for these classy women.

"He has no masculinity whatsoever," Kareha added.

"He's easily the biggest loser in the school!" Daisy squealed, pumping her fist in the air.

"Oh, I know one! He smells terrible!" Cin jumped in. "And who on Earth has a glass eye at Rin-kun's age, anyway?"

"And most importantly, he's completely useless," Kaede ended the session with finality.

I had been standing with my eyes closed, allowing the words to deflect off. "Well...like I said, feel free to use anything I have at your leisure. You are my guests after all."

"Like anything you say means anything!" Kareha said in a quite pretty voice.

"Well Rin, tonight is a girls' night, as you might have noticed," Kaede said, speaking humanely to me all of a sudden. "So if you could please give us some space, that would be great. You're kind of an eyesore, you know."

Another chorus of harmonizing giggles rose to meet me. "Yeah, I know. Have a good night, ladies!" With that, I strode across the room and climbed the stairs to my bed, there pulling out my sewing kit so I could get another uniform repaired for tomorrow.

I hadn't even been going for thirty seconds when the door swished open. To my surprise (and dread), Asa slid inside, silently closing the door behind her. I know she has some sort of physical attraction to me since I've smelled her pheromones several times before when the two of us have been in close proximity...but I hoped this time she would keep the visit a strictly friendly one. Not likely though.

"Hello Asa-sempai," I muttered in slight irritation, peering into her eyes as I continued knitting. "Won't the others be suspicious that you've disappeared?"

She shook her head and continued to stand, awkwardly. "I told them I had to go to the bathroom." She took a deep breath, and then said in what I'm sure was supposed to be a reassuring voice, "Are you alright, Rin-kun? I, um...I'm sorry for what they were saying."

I gave a wry half-grin. "Don't worry about it, Sempai. I've put up with it for five years; it really doesn't affect me anymore."

"Rin-kun," she breathed, regarding me with a pitiful look that sent a warning shock down my spine. Asa made a kind of jerky dive across the room onto my bed, landing fairly close to me. I began to smell her familiar pheromones thickening; her imminent touch was virtually guaranteed by this point. She looked at me with an admittedly fascinating soup of emotions in her deep purple eyes. "You don't have to put up with this, you know. No one should have to."

"It's my choice, Sempai," I muttered, continuing to knit, trying to think of a way to politely get rid of her before something horribly painful to both of us happened.

"Right; that's what you always say, I know..." she began stroking her calves with her palms, struggling to figure out what to do with them. "If you really insist on bearing all this, um...ah..."

Don't do it. I'm not interested. Leave me alone. Just go away.

"You don't have to bear all this alone, Rin-kun...I want to help you carry the pain." She suddenly knelt forward, bringing her face uncomfortably close to mine. "NOTHING they said down there about you was true. You're one of the best, nicest, sweetest guys I've ever..."

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I hissed, way more viciously than I meant.

Asa jerked back like I'd slapped her and we both stared at each other, wide-eyed. Her pheromones' continual climb of intensity stopped abruptly and completely disappeared; there wouldn't be any more threat of contact from her tonight. My heart was beating so fast from panic at the prior prospect of her touch that the edges of my vision were starting to tunnel away.

Continuing to stare at me in wonder, confusion, and disbelief, Asa backpedaled wordlessly and slipped out the door.

"Sorry," I murmured to the darkness, feeling very tempted to take my sewing needle and insert into my other eye.

A/N: That's it for now! Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for partaking! Don't forget to leave your thoughts!

=)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks reviewers! (waves) It's not often I get such helpful input, and so early. The darkness is not going to let up very much just yet, though...Also, I would feel dishonest if I didn't mention, I used an idea for torture inspired by a scene in C.S. Lewis' Perelandra in this chapter. It's a weirdie but a goodie.

I don't have much to do in the way of school this week, so I hope to get at least two more chapters posted by week's end.

The end might be a little bit disturbing. Just a heads-up.

Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own anything at all of any significance or relevance.

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 2**

I woke up the next morning to my cruddy alarm clock, at 4:30. I guess Kaede hadn't planned any special wake up procedures for me. This was going to be a good day.

I enthusiastically scooped up my newly-sewn uniform and trotted to our shower so I could make Kaede a traditionally elaborate breakfast. I stepped in and flipped on the jetting stream of water, trying not to dwell anymore on my mistake concerning Asa last night. While I hummed and scrubbed myself, I thought of the menu for the morning.

"Himono sounds good," I mused as I splashed water through my bangs, "and then we can have rice, miso soup, and..."

Just then, the door creaked unceremoniously open, revealing a robe-wearing Kaede...carrying a toolbox.

"Ah, good morning, Kaede-chan!" I said with as much tenderness as I could inject. "You're up early today."

She silently slipped off her robe, revealing her bare body (although the steam on the glass prevented me from seeing any details – not that I wanted to, anyway), and pried open the box, lifting out an assortment of meat knives. I began, with a sinking feeling, to realize that this morning might not turn out to be as great as I had originally thought.

"Um, Kaede-chan?" I asked in a shaking voice, stopping my washing. I was deeply aware that glass was the only thing separating my unprotected body from the cleaver in her hand. "Do you need something?"

She raised her head and stared at me; I could somehow FEEL the strength of her deadened gaze, even through the condensation on the glass. I half-wondered if she were maybe just sleepwalking, until she said, "Rin-kun?"

"Yes?" I answered quickly.

"Nothing," she immediately canceled her query. The two of us were frozen, staring at the other's face. She held a cleaver in her right hand and a yanagiba in her left, both raised towards me. The sound and sprinkling of the water was the only the movement in the room.

"Rin-kun?"

"...what?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?" She started immediately again this time; was this some kind of game to her?

"WHAT?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?" ARRGH! What the fuck is she doing? "Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?"

"WHAT?!? Spit it out! What's your question, Kaede-chan?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?"

"Kae-de-CHAN!!! Cut it out!"

"Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?"

I glared at her in disbelief, finished running the shampoo out of my hair, and switched off the shower. Now the only sound was her endless questioning.

"Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?..."

"Kaede-chan. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?"

I massaged my temples, trying to ignore the mortal danger presented by her knives. "So...how are things? We might as well take this opportunity to catch up."

"Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?

"We hardly ever talk anymore. Is school going good and stuff?"

"...Rin-kun?"

"I'm doing alright, I'd say." I looked down at her knives briefly, as the glass panel began to defog. "So...uh...I guess you still haven't forgiven me, huh?" My voice sounded disconnected, like I was hearing a Rin I didn't know saying the words. "I don't blame you. Just take your time. I'm sure we'll eventually work through this."

"Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?"

I began to look around the shower for something I could use to distract her and to escape with; nothing really jumped out at me, though. I didn't really think a razor could compete with a meat cleaver.

"Rin-kun?"

"I'll always be your friend, Kaede-chan, and I'll always care for you, regardless of if you want it or not," I promised, leaning back on the moist tiles and smirking at her.

"Rin-kun?"

She was beginning to wear down my mental protection. "Yes?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?"

* * *

We continued thus for a long time. I snuck a look at my watch from time to time, and we had apparently been there, in that situation, for SEVEN hours. By this time, I couldn't take her looping questioning ANY longer. I was really freaking cold. My heart had been hammering so long that I couldn't keep my hands from shaking with frayed nerves.

"Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?"

"Are you enjoying the view?" I said with a hoarse voice, gesturing across my body, which had been laid bare for her this entire time.

"Rin-kun?...Rin-kun?"

I was beginning to see that she would never leave me alone until I tried to get past her. She is certainly patient, I'll give her that.

"You know, I think this is the longest conversation we've had in like six years. We should do this more often."

"Rin-kun?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Rin-kun?"

I decided to make a run for it...I was a little tired of being so exposed to her hate-filled eyes for this long. As I'd thought about doing fairly often during this time, I grabbed a large bottle of shampoo, slid open the glass pane a crack, and chucked it at her hand with the cleaver.

Evidently, her attention had been starting to wander, since the giant blade flew out of her hands and onto the floor. Seizing my chance, I grabbed another bottle, covered my crotch with my other hand, and dashed as fast as I possibly could towards the door, swinging the bottle at her face with all my might.

Kaede was ready, though, and sliced her yanagiba right through me, digging deep through my flesh and carving from my belly button all the way around to my back.

The pain was unbelievable, but I couldn't stop running. Even if I died because of that slash, I had to get the hell away from that freakish, manipulative monstrosity.

I slipped down the stairs, thick blood spilling out all over the floor as I went. I'm going to die...there's no helping it. I saw Kaede's shadow in front of me on the floor...she was coming.

I reached the door as my vision began to lose its color and clarity; I threw on an overcoat to cover myself, and fumbled the door open despite Kaede's pounding footsteps. I was FREE!

"HAH!" I screamed out in a broken voice, and belted down the street, away from the Fuyou household. There had to be someplace I could go to die in peace...wait – the church, Blanc Hotre! That place in my mind, I continued to scoot in that direction, a giant, drooling grin plastered on my face.

There was just too much fucking pain...I wasn't going to make it. The chopped contents of my stomach were just spitting out on the pavement.

Not even lasting a minute, my vision almost entirely disappeared by the time I made it to the town's shopping bazaar. I never like to make a spectacle of myself, but I could care less by that point. I was going to die anyway.

I didn't know if anyone could see me half-naked and gushing out gunks of bodily fluids on the pavement, but I didn't care. The ONE thing I had going through my mind, was whether Kaede would be okay without me. I don't care if she knows it or not, but her psychological well-being entirely depends on my being the stand-in for her hatred...I didn't want to think about her exerting this much brutality on herself. It was better that I, as her friend, consumed her hatred for her.

But had I consumed enough? I don't know how my death will affect her now. It may be too soon.

As I faded into darkness, feeling my nerves come undone with a final release from their eternal clenching, I heard a garbled voice that might have been directed at me.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I woke up in very luxurious-looking, white bed that was more comfortable than I thought beds could ever be. It was like the entire thing was made out of clouds; I thought I would never stop smiling, it felt so soothing. The home was decorated in a traditional Japanese style, complete with printed, sliding bamboo doors. Just being there seemed to caress my nerves; I made a small sigh of relief.

Then I noticed that a deliriously beautiful girl was leaning directly over me. My smile immediately dropped, and I sat up in alarm, afraid for my life.

Wait...wasn't I dead just a second before?

Maybe now I was in heaven, where the girls wouldn't hurt me.

"Rin-kun! You're awake!" the mysterious girl said, beaming at me with a face that looked like it was made for smiling. She was a god, draped with hair redder than blood, and was completely angelic-looking. Itsuki would eat her up.

I put two and two together; some gods could use healing magic, and I was still alive after I felt my own life snuff out! She must have saved my life. I ran a hand down my side to feel Kaede's gash, and it was gone, without even a scar!

"I healed you, in case you were wondering," the girl said.

"Th-thank you so much, you didn't have to!" I exclaimed, my manners suddenly returning to me. "I, uh..." (her sparkling amber eyes distracted me for a moment) "Um, I'm Rin Tsuchimi." I would have offered my hand for her to shake, but I was worried about the slicing pain it might bring.

"Rin-kun, it IS you!" she exploded, leaping on the bed and attempting to cuddle with me. As soon as her slim body made contact with me, I was assaulted by a suffocating, spiky blast of pain, and my arms and legs flailed accordingly.

The girl didn't get the message and continued to snuggle aggressively with me. My need to vomit increased substantially, and I was barely holding in my urine. If I unclenched at all, I was going to piss ALL over this bed.

I truly, deeply hate my life.

As the girl who looked like a painting slowly draped one of her calves over mine, I realized amidst a fiery jolt of pain up to my crotch that my clothes had been changed; I was still not wearing any underwear (or pants), but I was now wearing a silk robe of some kind.

A very tall, broad-shouldered man lumbered in, looking at me with penetrating eyes. I was happy to take this excuse to slip away from my captor.

I bowed to the floor. "Good morning, God-sama. I'm sorry for the state you found me in." I didn't really know which state I was referring to, but I didn't really care.

"Please be at ease," the man commanded, and I shot straight up in response. Who was this guy? Was this girl his girlfriend? She certainly didn't act like it, so that couldn't be right. He continued, "My daughter has talked about you non-stop for the last nine years." Completely without warning, the huge god slapped me on the back, almost making me spill out all the vomit I'd been accumulating. "It's good to finally meet you in person, Rin-kun!"

I gasped and got up to face them both at the same time. There wasn't much resemblance between the two; the daughter was still smiling so brightly the air around her seemed to glow.

"Who are you?" I asked tentatively.

The adult god reared back his head and roared with laughter. "Why, Rin-kun, I am Eustoma, Lord of the Gods!"

As soon as he said it, I realized it with a bolt of shame and shock. I knew I'd seen him somewhere before; he was THE big man upstairs! The newspapers often followed his various bizarre exploits.

"And so that means you're…" I breathed, looking over at the red-haired girl that had been snuggling with me.

She tilted her head and smiled brilliantly. "My name's Lisianthus, but I want everyone, and especially you, to call me Sia."

Her words instilled in me yet another epiphany; I somehow recalled her name in conjunction with some tucked-away memory about a train…and a young, hyperactive girl.

I realized I'd met her before!

"Whoa, ah…I remember! You're the girl from the train like, like…eight years ago?"

"That's right!" Sia exclaimed, continuing to act sunnier than the sun itself.

"And Sia-chan has selected YOU, Rin-kun, as her fiancé."

I couldn't help but scream in surprise.

Time seemed to freeze. I was going to get married to a girl I JUST now remembered existed? I didn't know if I could get married at all, with my unwavering condition and all. Who would take care of Kaede? Was anything in my control at all anymore? And wait, would this make me…

"Hang on a second, uh, Eustoma-sama!"

"Oh please, we're practically father and son now! Just call me papa," the huge god interrupted with a goofy grin. I looked at Sia oddly, and she rolled her eyes.

"Uh, okay…would this wedding make me, you know…?" I didn't really want to say it, for fear of being and sounding stupid.

"Yes, Rin-dono! You'll be the heir to the throne of the gods!"

"ARRGH! WHAAT?!?"

"NOW LET'S EAT!" Eustoma picked me up and carried me out of the bedroom (during which I was very conscious of flashing Sia) into the foyer, where a tablecloth covered with a large variety of food had been laid out on the floor."You must have nabe! It's really good. Sia made it, you know."

I looked behind us at her, and she seemed to be trying to contain her irritation. Despite that, I realized I hadn't eaten anything all day, and so I was happy to begin feasting on the food. "And have some rice!"

"Thank you!" I shouted, piling the fried rice in my mouth as well.

"And some MISO SOUP!" he thundered, lifting the vat of said substance my way. Unfortunately, Sia smacked him in the back of his head with the corner of a folding chair.

"FATHER!!! What is wrong with you?!" she burst out (for little reason, as far as I could tell).

"Um…did you make all of this…Sia-chan?" I asked a little meekly.

"What? Oh, yeah, yes I did, Rin-kun," she replied, switching back to her cheery mode.

"This is the best nabe EVER!" I realized my cheeks were wet from happiness. "Look, I'm even crying!"

"I'm so glad!" she ejaculated and collapsed on the floor next to me. Her clothes were a little daring for a princess, I thought. They were simultaneously slim and loose and brought out the rich colors of her skin and hair.

After swallowing, I quickly tried to properly convey my thanks. "I, uh, never really thanked you for saving me. I would have died if you hadn't…"

She shook her head. "No Rin-kun, please don't thank me. I couldn't have been more ecstatic to do it. If you had died, you have no idea how sad I'd have been." Sia lightly touched my forearm, and I tried to ignore the bristling pain. "I'm really, really happy that you're alright, so that we can be together. What happened, anyway?"

"I um..." I thought quickly. "I got into a fight this morning before school, and uh...it didn't really end very well for me." Mostly true, I suppose.

As I gave that explanation, I quickly started to regret it. Alarm built up in Sia's hyper-expressive face until she looked like she was about to cry.

"But I'm okay, thanks to you!" I added.

"Don't do fights anymore!" she yelled in anguish. "I'm serious! If something happened to you, I would DIE!"

Well, that's different. It's kind of disorienting to have someone so famous care about me that much.

I changed topics immediately. The two of us sat and conversed while eating, talking about each other's interests, dating history (this was a very short conversation for both of us), and hopes for the future. It was a little bizarre; I kept feeling like I was so far below her that I wasn't fit to even be holding a conversation with her. Even so, I enjoyed her company and especially her inexplicable interest in me, so I tried my best to reciprocate those aspects towards her.

As her father finally got up off the floor, I smiled to Sia, glad that I'd gotten this extended period to know her. "Well, I'd better get going. I'm supposed to be at school right now, anyway."

"You mean that school over yonder?" Eustoma stated in a commanding voice, pointing towards the wall.

"Um, Verbena Academy? Yeah..."

"That's where my Sia-chan is going, starting Monday!" Sia coughed in awkwardness as he held her dainty shoulders in his gigantic hands.

"Really? That's great!" I smiled at her as I stood up. "Do you know if we'll be in the same class?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly, and then looked a little anxious. "And I also was wondering if, maybe, um...we could walk to school together?"

"Sure, I don't see why not! I mean, where do you live? We could find a place to meet on the way."

"Well, let me show you!" Sia purred, taking my arm in her hand (ouch!) and leading me through a couple sliding doors into her front porch. There, to my astonishment, was the Fuyou household, right next door. "Ta-dah!"

"...oh!" I said, not knowing what to say. Weird. Although I suspected the creepy closeness was more due to her dad than her.

"Well, it was great to meet you, Rin-dono," Eustoma chuckled. "Although try not to get in as many fights in the future. Sia was in quite a state before."

"Okay, I'll try," I laughed nervously.

"Goodbye, Rin-kun," Sia said softly, pausing nervously and then taking me in a brief embrace. Although it felt a little like hugging a wall covered with burning charcoal, I didn't really mind too much for some reason...possibly because she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

"Yep," I coughed, and then broke away once I'd had enough. I bowed to both of them as deeply as I could and said, "Thanks, Sia-chan. I owe you my life. There isn't anything I could possibly do to express how grateful I am."

"Don't worry about it!" she sang. "Just being friends with you again is the best possible gift you could ever give to me."

They waved at me exuberantly as I walked down from their porch, still feeling a little disoriented. So. I was chosen to marry Sia. That thought alone made me feel abnormally happy. Although I'd never really thought about marriage before, I could definitely see myself marrying her and being happy, despite the whole pain-touch aspect. I did notice one interesting thing; the entire time I was with her, I never sensed her pheromones at all, which meant that she wasn't ever turned on. I took that as a good thing, though. It meant two things: that she would hopefully not be too grabby and painfully physical in the future, and that she apparently was in love with me from a purely non-sexual standpoint, which would be a much stronger bond. I blushed at the thought of such a possibility.

Of course, it could also mean that she was actually not even in love with me and just faking it, for some unknown reason. This scenario was probably more likely, given my track record with women in life so far. Most women seem unable to stand my presence at all.

* * *

I walked home (no great feat) to get my school supplies although I was six hours late, and found the place completely pitch black.

"I guess Kaede-chan must have gone to school," I muttered, wandering over to the light switch and giving it a flip, only to find the floodlight unresponsive. "O-kay," I said, a familiar feeling of uncomfortableness returning to my upper chest. If it was just a dull bulb, I could easily fix it. But if Kaede had taken it out on purpose...

I slid off towards the stairs, feeling my way through the thick, nocturnal darkness. The windows were all covered, and the house creaked and groaned in response to the wind.

An inexplicable burst of cool air met my left cheek, and I jumped and felt around in the darkness to find its source, but was unsuccessful. I guess my mind was playing tricks on me.

I maneuvered around the confining corners of the building with palpable dread manifesting itself in my throat. This was beginning to look really foreboding. I got ready to make a run for it at the first sign of Kaede's presence.

As I made it to the staircase, I peered around uselessly in the blinding shadows at the three hallways pointing towards the first step. Nothing.

A glint.

An enormous, metallic impact smashed me in the side of the head, and I found myself immediately rendered immobile on the floor. The pain waxed unnaturally, and my saliva began to accumulate more quickly than I could swallow it.

"Rin-kun," Kaede's voice surrounded me in the billowing darkness. "I'm happy you're not dead."

I tried to respond wittily, but the saliva and mounting threat to vomit from my head impact prevented me from saying anything but incomprehensible gibberish.

"Let me welcome you back home." I forced my head to turn up towards the sound of her voice, and saw her blotting silhouette descend until her pelvis rested upon my chest. She lowered her head until it was hovering just above mine.

She wasn't going to kiss me, was she? Well, if she was, hopefully that meant she wouldn't do anything else horrible to me today.

I saw that I was being too optimistic when she silently slipped her fingernails around my glass eye and pulled it out. Her perfume filled my nostrils as she pressed her mouth to my eye socket...her skin was pressing down on my entire face. The dull, reality-suffocating pain I receive whenever she touches me bit me across my skin.

I hissed in surprise, discomfort, and pain as she dipped her tongue into my eye socket. The nerves are extremely tender, and her tongue filling it doesn't feel right or sane. I ground my fingers into the carpet as she continued licking, licking, licking every curve of my eye socket. She first lapped up the top, then carressed the sides, and then smothered the bottom. I could feel the pain of every small bump on her tongue scratching incessantly into my sensitive tissue.

She finally rolled her tongue back into her mouth after one more quick lick-over of my eye socket. I felt her lips graze the tip of my nose. "Does that feel good...Rin-kun?"

I paused and thought about it briefly. Either answer could have bad repurcussions...but I decided to hopefully humor her quasi-sexual side that she seemed to be displaying now (despite her pheromones being thus far inactive), and mouthed, "Yes."

"What?" she bellowed in a bizarrely deep voice for a girl. I clenched my teeth to try and force the vomit down as long as I could. "You're not allowed to...feel good, Rin-kun."

In a violently fast movement, Kaede thrust her hand down to her side and retrieved something. I looked at her hand with my good eye to see what it was, so I could prepare myself. She quickly extended something long and glinting into the darkness; it was a boxcutter.

OH, shit.

My arms were pinned down by her knees as she got up in a kneeling position. "The wicked must receive their punishment," she spoke in a husky voice, eager to cause pain.

"No, please, Kaede-chan, don't..." I begged in a panic, through my saliva.

She silently whisked the boxcutter's blade down into my eye-socket and stabbed it into the left side of the hyper-tender flesh.

"FUCK!" I roared in excruciating, unmitigated pain, pissing myself violently as she kept the blade in my eye tissue. She didn't stop...she slid it out , and then stabbed me again, through the already thick, pooling blood in my eye-socket. I screamed inhumanly and quickly blacked out.

* * *

A/N: On to the next chapter! Hooray! Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your feedback. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Shuffle**

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 3**

Drip.

Drip.

My mind seemed like it was firing in erratic bursts of dim awareness. Something was keeping me from becoming alert. It was something huge, draping, and coating my existence.

Drip.

Then I realized; it was pain. I hadn't felt pain this monolithic in a long time…it was so much that I felt susceptible to death from pure, undiluted agony at any moment.

"Rin-kun. You're finally awake. I was worried you were going to keep sleeping forever," Kaede's voice mushed through my sphere of wooziness, sounding bright and sensual with an undertone of derision.

Drip.

Drip.

I breathed in, winced, and tried to achieve awareness of my surroundings. My eye adjusted to the shadowy lighting and I realized that I was in our family room. Kaede was standing in front of me, beaming a little too much for me to feel altogether comfortable.

Something was off, though, but I couldn't put my dazed finger on it.

Ohhh…I was handcuffed to the ceiling fan, hanging from it. No wonder I couldn't feel my arms at all.

I looked to the right and noticed a sandbag hanging from the fan blade opposite mine. Damn, she'd really thought this through, hadn't she?

"Rin-kun, it's about time for me to leave for school," Kaede said with a snap of her fingers. "Are you aware that it's Monday morning?"

Monday?! Just how long was I unconscious, anyway? Apparently not long enough for my eye socket's blood to clot…I guess she'd stabbed it a few times in my sleep. I looked over myself and noticed several long, dark red cut wounds laced throughout my naked body.

"Just how long were you planning on keeping me waiting? I guess it can't be helped that you're a weak, whimpering worm." She procured what I recognized as a crowbar (I immediately snapped awake with alarm at the sight of it in her hand) and used it as an extension of her arm to reach the light switch. Which, I realized with a nauseous recoiling of my stomach, activated the fan.

"Hoo-boy," I muttered, anticipating what was coming next.

BAM!

My anticipation didn't do much to block out the splattering feeling of a crowbar bashing into my fucking naked chest. I barked like a dog in shocked recoil.

"Rin-kun…" I heard her disconnected voice swirl about the room as the fan whirled me around (thudding into the jutting wall every time I passed it). "What do you think of my outfit today? Does it properly suit me?"

More proof that she lacks substantial grounds in reality.

"ANSWER!" she screeched, her voice cracking out of control. Another gushing impact from her crowbar met my midsection.

"ALRIGHT, alright," I shouted, trying to force down my ever-present urge to vomit. "Okay…as usual, I like...what you've done with it, yeah, you make the school uniform, um, look like, um…like it's very fashionable."

The crowbar came out of nowhere and bashed me in the face; I actually had to sob out of pain from the impact that time.

"Obvious bullshit! Tell me the truth, you pathetic little bitch!"

"It looks great! Sexy! I'm serious!" I plead.

BASH! In the crotch this time. Fucking HELL! That triggered a vomit reaction, which in turn sped up the bleeding from my eye socket from the clenching. Everything was a blur, and I felt seconds away from death.

"What do you want? What do you want me to say?" I whimpered in a painful way.

"I don't know! It's probably better if you don't say anything, you miserable BITCH!" Kaede popped me in the side of my skull, immediately causing my perception to dissipate entirely. Images schizophrenically warped through my mind's eye. I could feel myself heaving and urinating, and I was chewing on something very meaty…my tongue!

Somewhere along the line, the feeling of movement stopped, but there was something wrong…I was unable to focus on anything. Bursts of stars coated my dark sight, I was jerking my head around like a chicken, and I could feel foam accumulating heavily and dropping down my throat.

I realized in my incapacitated state that I was having a seizure. Focus was just not coming to me, and I vomited again, my body and legs flopping and contorting around uncontrollably. I had no control over anything at all!

The doorbell rang! It could be Kaede's father! I'm saved!

"Who the fuck?" Kaede said quite calmly, although I heard it in choppy bits. "Hang on a second, Rin-kun, and try to stop pissing everywhere."

I'm broken…I'll never be the same again. I'm dying…I can't even fucking breathe!

"Sakura!! It's Sakura-chan!" Kaede hissed from the window, obviously in a deep panic. I wasn't bothered, however.

Although I was still unable to see anything without it morphing derangedly into something resembling a Picasso painting, I felt Kaede climb up and unfasten my handcuffs. I was free!

"I s-can't believe it, I'm away!" I bubbled through my mouth foam in stupid celebration.

"GET in the bathroom! I'll clean all this shit up!" Kaede snapped.

"OKAY!!!" I exclaimed ecstatically, and began walking around directionless. I felt Kaede touch me and push me away somewhere. "Oh! I just remembered! I can't see anything!" I shouted, but it seemed that Kaede had already shut the door and thus would not be able to experience my epiphany alongside me.

I groped my way to the sink, in which I allowed my face to splat onto the bottom of the dish. It felt VERY nice to rest my bleeding face in the cool, ceramic container. I sighed and slurped in the pleasure, meditating there for about a minute.

When I raised my head, although still nauseous and disoriented, I was no longer in the throes of my seizure. All the pain replaced it, unfortunately. I groaned, ran the water, and dumbly stuck my face in the quietly-filling bowl, hoping to clean out my eye socket.

Sakura's here, huh? It took me a moment in my impaired state to remember, but it seemed to me that I used to have a friend named Sakura. She used to play with me and Kaede all the time, before Kaede pegged me as the bane of all reality. By then, Sakura had moved away…and…yeah, I guess that about covers it. I couldn't remember too much about her, but I had a feeling she was pretty nice…a true friend, just like Kaede used to be.

I lifted my face out of the blood-red pool of water just as Kaede opened the door. "GOOD, you're back to normal," Kaede growled hatefully. "Take a shower and put these on; I'm going to go let her in now. Do NOT let her find out, alright, faggot? Do you understand???" She was holding a pile of clothes for me (slashed, however) and my glass eye rested atop them.

I smiled warmly. "Thanks Kaede-chan, I'll try not to let you down."

Kaede sneered. "You're so ugly, I can barely stand to look at you. I'm sure Sakura-chan will be disappointed that you turned out so bad." She set down the pile and slammed the door shut in my face.

A shower would be nice, she was right. I slipped in past the glass door and turned the water on, thinking amidst the pain as I did. It might sound strange, but I actually still enjoy talking to Kaede like I was doing just then. When she's lucid, I mean. Even though she's antagonistic now, it's actually me talking to the real Kaede again (not the fake one at school with her friends or the soulless one that likes to hurt me). Just the knowledge of that gave me a good chill, which sort of weirded me out.

I was a little bit nervous about Sakura being there. This was my chance to score a good first impression…or second impression, actually…with her, being that it had been years since I'd seen her. Hopefully I could convince her that I was a somewhat good person, worthy of being friends with. The other girls at school already hate me so much from Kaede's constant gossip that I don't even have half a chance of getting them to change their minds about me.

Suddenly, I remembered the weirdness that went on the other day; Sia wanted to marry me! How exciting.

That's right…even if I screwed up this meeting with Sakura, I could still count on Sia liking me (at least superficially)! I just need to stay alive (and sane) long enough to somehow achieve marriage with her! Then I'm saved.

I daydreamed about it, tickled with delight, as I scrubbed my various bruises and gashes. Marriage…with a princess, even! It was still too much to really grasp. Perhaps it hadn't happened at all…no, I'm pretty sure that it did, I'd asked Sia and her dad about it several times. So, although I could barely understand how this could actually come to pass, I chose to hold on to that hope, to get me through whatever would come my way. Even if my hopes would eventually get crushed for some reason, I could still use that potential, dream future as a motivator just to survive, for the time being.

That settled, I quickly dried off and dressed, eager to get the meeting with this bitch out of the way. I ESPECIALLY had to get out there fast if I wanted to cut off Kaede's poisonous lie-telling. Arranged for marriage or not, I had a reputation to uphold!

I applied the makeup to my standout welts and bruises, getting much faster at the precise process the more I did it. After I was sure that I'd achieved that sacred balance in foundation between stealth and noticeability, I popped in my glass eye and…politely opened the door.

I did, however, stride out into the kitchen, in order to try and exude confidence I didn't have. Looking down, I opened my mouth to welcome Sakura and apologize for my lateness, but all words got lost in my throat. Sakura Yue…WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?

WOW…I mean just WOW! I'm not really one to go by looks but DAMN! Attractiveness on this girl was not a deficiency. She was so pretty that I feared to dilute her graceful image by even breathing. I didn't feel worthy to even look at her at all! AND SHE'S LOOKING BACK AT ME! It was so stressful I had to bite my lip to keep from crying.

"Hi Rin-kun," she said in a soft voice with a smile that looked so RIGHT that I swear I lost a couple years on my life. I tried to wave, but it was really difficult. After I failed at that, I plopped down on the chair next to Kaede, facing Sakura.

"Are…you going to say anything…Rin-kun?" Kaede asked me coolly. I was worried she might blow her cover herself…a situation in which she would surely take her anger out on me anyway.

I smiled and asked, amidst nervous vibrations through my chest, eye socket, and arms, "H-hi Sakura-chan…how a-are you doing?"

She smiled even wider (AHHH, I'M GOING TO DIE FROM THE PRESSURE! I redirected all my mental concentration towards assisting my bladder in its urine-retention abilities) and said, "Don't force yourself, Rin-kun! Kaede-chan told me all about how you went drinking last night and have a huge hangover! Don't worry about it!"

I didn't really know what to say to that, but I nodded and tried to smile even though my eye was watering with tears of sadness, nervousness, happiness, and pain from my stab wounds. It was really just not good for me to be in her presence. I was pretty sure my bodily functions were going to shut down one after another fairly soon.

'Have to get away, have to get away,' I thought to myself, rapidly thinking of an exit plan. However, nothing was forthcoming that wouldn't seem horribly rude to the beautiful, angelic WOMAN before me. I decided, instead, to think of Sia as a strength-inducer so I could survive this (hopefully brief) meeting.

"So, how are you doing, Rin-kun?" Sakura asked. Why the HELL is she targeting me? I don't want to talk to her, I'm scared! If only I was wearing a mask…that could potentially deflect my anxiety long enough for me to have my wits about me.

Oh yeah, answering.

"Um…I'm doing pretty good," I whimpered in a voice that sounded ludicrously far from 'pretty good.' "Wh-wh…" God. "What's be…um…what brings you to our neck of the woods?" YES! An almost-complete sentence! Sia, I demand a cookie!

"Oh, I just hadn't heard from you two in FOREVER!" Sakura sang. "I've thought about you so much! And I disagree, Kaede-chan, I think Rin-kun looks really cute these days!"

If my face hadn't looked like death before, it surely did now. She thinks I'm cute? I'M cute?!? How am I supposed to live up to that impossible task? At least she disagreed with Kaede though, on the other hand. That meant she was still a free agent, despite Kaede's obvious insertion of her forked tongue into Sakura's ear already.

"Well, at least that means someone does!" Kaede giggled in a voice so false and grating that it made me grind my teeth.

"Oh Kaede-chan, that's mean! You shouldn't insult someone with a hangover!" Thanks for the support, Sakura…even though I've never taken a sip of alcohol in my life…although that actually sounds like a potentially helpful idea in the future…

"Anyway, Sakura-chan and I were just discussing Pocky, and how she just barely missed seeing him again," Kaede informed me. I should explain: Pocky was Kaede and I's puppy…Kaede ripped all of its skin off when we were 11 and hung its bleeding corpse from my ceiling fan with fishing line. Sakura missed it by JUST a little bit.

"I was so sad to hear about him passing away," Sakura murmured, pulling out her wallet and showing a photograph in it to us. "Look, I've had his picture with me this entire time! He could always cheer me up when I was homesick for you guys." She flipped it once more, and I was astonished to see a picture of me as a kid, preserved in one of her photo sleeves. "I had you too, Rin-kun!" Sakura winked at me, and I felt a chill of dread as she did so. "Although I actually think I like the way you look now more than how you looked when I lived here!"

Ah, scary!

"I can't stop looking at you…you're so mature-looking, it's addictive!" Sakura lowered her head, gently examining my face with her serene eyes.

I turned my head. "P-please don't!" Both girls went into a fit of giggles for some reason.

"So, you've been going to an all-girls' school, right, Sakura-chan?" Kaede queried.

All girls for that many years, huh…the thought gave me the shivers (not that I didn't have them already). A thought occurred to me; girls love romance, right? And when there's no guys around to receive said romance… I gasped inwardly. Perhaps Sakura was a lesbian now! I'm saved!

She chuckled and ran a hand through her elegant navy blue hair, a sight that took my breath away with its ridiculous beauty. "Yes…it's been nice, but living with all girls can be a pain!"

"I bet," I interjected with a laugh, completely by accident. Looking over, I saw Kaede give me a slight warning look. I shrugged.

"You have no idea how bad it can get, trust me!" Sakura said, smiling more brilliantly than diamonds. "They can get so caught up in pointless bickering over the smallest, most insignificant things!"

Kaede gave a little cough. "So, how long will your stay in town be? I mean, we don't want to force you to leave, but we WERE going to go to school!"

Sakura made a sweeping gesture with her fair hands. "I have no idea! I'm just seeing where the winds of life blow me. I got a free room at an apartment complex from one of my old friends, so I guess we'll just see what happens!" She looked at me and started pulling on her hair, seemingly nervously. I wonder what a girl who looked more beautiful than the stars of the night sky could be anxious about, though? "But, ah…if you need to go to school, that's fine, we can get together later."

"I'm so sorry about that!" Kaede said with a slight 'begging-for-forgiveness' vibe to her voice as she got up and bowed. "You've just caught us at a bad time."

Sakura continued to silently sneak furtive peeks at me. I wondered…it seemed like she was waiting for me to say or do something. Hmmmmmm…context clues seemed to suggest that she was upset that we, no, that I was going to school…and she wants me to say or do something about that, so…I guess…I'll say…

"SO!" I said so loudly that all three of us jumped in surprise. "Sakura-chan!"

"Y-yes, Rin-kun?" she gasped, her innocent smile having vividly, fear-inducingly returned.

"Um, I was wondering…if you'd like…to…" Damn, I know I'm on the right track, judging from her apt, eager attention. I just have no idea what to say. "Ah…GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING?" I gave up and just blurted that out.

"YES!" Sakura exclaimed. She reached across the table and clasped my hand, which gave me a sensation akin to laying it on a lit stove top. "I'm not sure what that something will be, but we can make sure that it is the most amazing something that there ever was!"

I couldn't help but smile, despite the exponentially-growing pain in my hand. She seemed like a really cool person, despite being abnormally good-looking.

"Well, see you later, Kaede-chan! I'm afraid I'll have to take your Rin-kun away for the day!" Sakura got up and began pulling me towards the door. I noticed that her pheromones began going haywire with activity…apparently she wasn't lying when she said that she thought I was attractive. And it would seem that she wasn't a lesbian either, unfortunately.

"Wait, I'll come with you!" Kaede said, giddily.

Sakura gave an adorable limp-wristed motion. "Oh, nawww…you have school to go to!" Her slight fingers tightened on my shoulder in accordance with a second rise in her pheromones, and I began to feel slightly antsy.

"B-but," Kaede whined, her eyes watering. "Rin-kun has to go to school too!" A valid point, my demon housemate.

Sakura seemed to reflect on this statement for a bit, before giving Kaede a blank look, waving, announcing "Well…I'll be seeing ya!" and proceeding to drag me out the door behind her.

For better or for worse…it seemed I was in my horny childhood friend's possession at the moment.

* * *

Breathlessly, the gorgeous Sakura whirled to me at the gate and asked, "Which way is the school?"

I pointed to the right in slow motion. "Um, National Verbena Academy is…"

"We'll go this way then!" she interrupted, taking my arm hostage and guiding me in the opposite direction. We passed Sia's house and I momentarily got my hopes up that she would come out the door and rescue me…but then I realized that school had already started a good hour ago, so she wouldn't be home still. I hoped she wouldn't be upset that I missed her introduction to the class today…

Once we arrived at the nearest corner, Sakura took me down it so that we were no longer viewable from the Fuyou household. Walking behind her treated me to a constant stream of her potent pheromones, but I hadn't realized their full strength until she stopped and faced me, her scent filling up the alleyway air.

My heart was pounding like the wheels of an express train. The girl more beautiful than any person should be was inches away from my face...I was so beyond screwed. Her expressive, deep green eyes flooded hysterical panic into my mind, yet I couldn't look away from their intense glow.

"Rin-kun…I need to hold you…you don't mind, do you?" Sakura asked me in a deep voice thick with attraction. Well, at least she was polite about it.

"No, I don't mind…" I said softer than a mouse's death scream, and before I knew it her body was flush with mine. A fire pillar of concentrated pain shook me from the waist up, but I clenched my teeth and bore it for as long as I could, just to be nice. I sort of wanted to hug her, but I really wanted to keep any touching to an absolute minimum.

She put her lips to my ear and whispered while thrusting her hips into mine, "I'm here for YOU, Rin-kun…I'll always be here as long as you need me…" Her arms squeezed me even tighter, and I let out a gasp of pain.

Finally, she pulled away and beamed up at me. I just peered back at her in exhaustion. Strangely, her pheromones had diminished to a large degree…that hug must have tided them over for the moment.

"So, uh…wh-where do you want to go, Rin-kun?" Sakura asked, suddenly unsteadily. She must have been acting mostly on sex drive before.

"Well…" I thought about it, reflecting on my knowledge of the area. "If we continue down this way, there's a park that's pretty nice…"

"A PARK?!?" she exploded. Mood swings much? "That would be great! Is it the same park we went to all the time as kids?"

"Y-"

"Let's go!" Bliss seemingly restored, my flawless childhood friend whisked me off down the rest of the alleyway.

Pain from her touch and my stab wounds aside, I was beginning to feel all kinds of nervous. First, I was skipping school, and thus unintentionally avoiding Sia…Kaede was probably getting more angry by the minute…and Sakura here seemed to have some sort of deep-set physical attraction towards me. All in all, not one of my best days.

We made it to the park rather quickly, thanks to Sakura's enthusiasm.

She changed personalities again; currently, she appeared unable to maintain eye contact with me and began stamping in place as her pheromones seeped out into the surrounding air. "U-um-ah-I…" she stammered.

"Yes?" I asked her gently.

"W-w-w…um…do…ah…would you like to…um…" She sighed and hissed in frustration. Apparently her brain broke sometime in the last two minutes. I felt a little kinship with her…it seemed her nerves got the best of her at times, too.

"Hey, do you remember that tree?" Sakura abruptly pointed up at the nearest tree.

"Yep, it's a good one."

"Th-that's the one we used to climb all the time! Let's go!"

"What, climb it?!"

"Y-yes, if that's okay with you…"

"I…" I sighed. "Okay, let's do it."

"Okay!" My blushing escort guided me up to the base of the tree. She looked at me a little bashfully and said, "Um, do you mind giving me a boost?"

"Sure, I don't…" I looked down and saw why she was blushing at the moment; she was wearing a mini-skirt. "Um, it's okay, I got it," I continued, despite my rickety diaphragm. I got on the ground and made a stepping stool with my hands to assist her up, very careful to not look up at her while she was climbing...despite her flawless, perfect, milky white legs that seemed to demand my eyes' ascension.

That accomplished, I leaped up, latched onto a branch, and swung up next to her…where we sat in awkward silence, although my heart was trying its hardest to beat through its ribcage prison.

"Rin-kun…" she spoke, looking down at the grass below. "I-I can say your name out loud to you now, and you can hear me say it…" She looked at me with tearful eyes. "I never thought I'd have a chance to, again. I've missed you so much! It's like I'm dreaming!"

"You can say my name as much as you want, Sakura-chan," I tried to reassure her, "and, um, it's good to have you back."

"I…" She seemed to be really keen on saying something, but I wasn't sure where she was going. I did, however, notice that her pheromones were skyrocketing. "There's so much I had wanted to say to you, Rin-kun, for all those years…" Sakura began smashing her fingers together awkwardly. "I…you…um…you're the only person I've thought about, the entire time I've been at school. Everything I did, I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to hear your cynical voice commenting on every thing I saw..."

"Sakura-chan, don't…"

"I don't know why, Rin-kun, but I just couldn't get you out of my head, no matter who I met. Nothing I ever did seemed to really matter, because you weren't there to experience it with me." Her voice began shaking nervously again. "I really didn't mean to, but…over the years, my feelings turned from feelings of friendship for you into…"

"Love?" I put in, hoping to quell the coming storm.

"Well yes, and then…something else," Sakura continued, blushing and tightly crossing her legs as her pheromones went directly into outer space. "B-but it's really all I need, just to be here with you."

Whew, that was a close one. She turned her emerald eyes to me; her face was so exquisitely crafted that I almost felt like crying. "By the way, I was wondering…"

"What's up?"

"Are those…slash marks…on your face?"

Well, I guess the make-up didn't work. "Yeah…I-I get into fights sometimes."

"Really?!" Sakura cried like it was the worst possible thing that could have ever happened to her. The scent wafting up from her legs intensified even more...she must have been more than a little wet by this point. The threat of sex was direly imminent…ironic that my childhood friend was probably going to rape me the first day I'm reunited with her. "And your eye…I've noticed that it looks a little…" she squinted at me very closely. I could feel the volcanic warmth emanating from her body as it hovered just centimeters apart from mine, a feeling that fascinated me a little but terrified me much more.

"Well, it's fake, if that's what you mean," I said with a nervous smile, popping my eye out into the palm of my hand to try and cut off some of her libido. No such luck however, despite her face growing quite horrified, she was getting still more stinky. I suddenly realized why my tactics weren't working; she must have had some sort of protection instinct, and wanted to care for me…which somehow translated into wanting sex…which was bad.

"You can't do that, Rin-kun," she breathed, rocking back and forth in place and squeezing her thighs together even more tightly. "You need to be more careful…I…can't…stand it…the thought of you getting hurt…rips me apart…" All her visible flesh was flaming red with inner heat, and her lips breathed erratically on my cheek.

It was definitely time for me to end our little rendezvous, but I decided to take steps to end it more cleanly than I had with Asa a few nights ago. "Well, I guess we're done here!" I announced abruptly, and slipped off the tree.

I looked up at my old friend, and she seemed about to erupt into tears. "Rin-kun! Where are you going?"

I sighed for the umpteenth time and held out my arms. "I think it's time we head back; I'll catch you, alright?"

"Oh, okay," she sniffed, paused, and then leaped out of the tree into my arms, which had roughly the same effect as an elephant pressing a spear through my bones. And yes, she was definitely wet, if the sogginess of her butt was any indication. "Rin-kun…" she mouthed my name very slowly, sacredly even, as she looked with incredible depth into my eyes.

I realized I was carrying her bridal-style, and my arms felt like they were dissolving from acid, so I quickly dumped her on the ground. "So, um…I guess…I'll be seeing you later?" I began, hopefully, eager to avoid any further unnecessary contact with the perfect-looking goddess lying on the ground in front of me.

"I-I'm so sorry, Rin-kun…I made you feel uncomfortable…" Sakura murmured, almost too soft to hear. She was looking at me almost fearfully now.

"What do you mean?" I asked, legitimately confused.

"I was being too forward…I was betraying our friendship. I'm sorry…that's why you left so abruptly, right? You don't feel that way about me, right? I didn't mean to…I'M SO SORRY!"

"Well, I…" I didn't really know what to say. I could hardly give the whole history of Kaede and I and discuss its psychological and physical repercussions on my well-being.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't be upset, I'm so sorry," she said, clutching her arms in clear distress. "I didn't mean to, um…invade your personal space…"

I smiled gently, really wanting to hold her and comfort her, but way too scared to do so. "Look, Sakura-chan, nothing happened! No harm, no foul, right? Come on, let's go home!"

The two of us walked in silence through the bright spring air, despite the incessant bustling of the city that surrounded us. "So…Rin-kun…" Sakura began, her voice still shaky-sounding.

"What's up?"

"I…was wondering…and please don't take it the wrong way…but, I was wondering if, um…if…"

I continued to wait patiently, smiling softly at her, being one often haunted by inarticulacy on numerous occasions.

"Would you like to live with me?" Sakura suddenly shrieked. Several people turned and stared, so she meekly retreated into me, causing me to jolt away in alarm from the contact.

"Well, um…" I said, running my hand through my hair.

"It's been my dream, for a LONG time…to live with you…" Sakura pleaded, tugging on my shirt sleeve. "I just want to know, I've always wanted to know, what it's like to live in the same place with you…to feel your presence shining on me constantly…please…just please, think about it…"

I smiled and laughed in relief. An exit! Thank you, Sakura-chan! "Okay, I promise to consider it," I assured her, not meaning a word.

"Great," she whispered. After a while, I noticed that she wasn't keeping pace with me, so I turned and looked to see why she had stopped.

"What's up, Sakura-chan! Is this where you get off?" I asked playfully.

I was more than a little alarmed to see her look up with a darkly serious look in her eyes. It was slightly different from Kaede's darkly serious looks, though. "Rin-kun...is everything actually alright?"

The sun couldn't have chosen a more inopportune time to go behind some thunderclouds. "Well yeah, what do you mean?"

"…Kaede-chan…is acting weird."

"Well, she's a unique person," I laughed.

"I don't think she's the same person I used to know," Sakura said, almost spitting the sentence with anger. Where was all THIS coming from?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied. "Just don't worry about it."

"I wish you wouldn't lie to me, Rin-kun, I'm only concerned for you, after all," Sakura smiled, her teeth glinting in the darkness. "What's the matter?"

"Sakura-chan, are you alright?"

"…what really happened with Pocky, Rin-kun?"

"Wh-what?" I hissed, the image of my puppy's skinless corpse returning unbidden to my mind.

"What. Happened. To. Pocky. Rin-kun?"

"U-um…" I took a deep breath. What was I supposed to say? "He died of natural causes."

"Kaede-chan said he got hit by a truck," Sakura grinned, firing each word out like a bullet. "Which one is it? Or is it…neither?"

"Um…th-that's what I meant by natural causes," I said feebly.

"Well, when you're ready to tell me, I'll be here for you, Rin-kun," Sakura said, looking at me intensely. "I am worried about you, though…I want to stay with you…"

"Sakura-chan…"

"To protect you…"

"Don't bother, I'll be fine," I lied for like the fifth time in a row. I turned my back to her. "See you later, Sakura-chan! Don't hesitate to come over whenever you want!"

"Be safe, Rin-kun," she shouted at me with a cracked voice, as I walked away.

* * *

I'm an idiot. Why couldn't I just tell Sakura? She was practically laying out all the evidence on the table in front of me, ready to take my side, and yet I still wouldn't admit anything? How much longer can I keep all this up? Sure, it's all for Kaede, but…I deserve to have a life too, don't I? Maybe I don't, but…I can only willingly submit to her boundless rage for so long…her self-control obviously has its limits.

I swung open the front door to the pitch-black Fuyou household and strode inside, exhaling out of stress as I did so.

Without any warning, I felt a familiar clang of metal bash the back of my skull in. Everything went black for a time, until I felt someone's clammy hands reach down my underwear and clench my balls.

"OWUOURK!!" I roared out of desperate pain as I woke up to see Kaede leaning in front of me, looking a little angry about something. "Kaede-chan?" I said softly as I looked down to her arm…which was still plunged straight down my pants.

"Rin-kun…what is your problem?" she muttered, glaring. I shrugged, but really wanted her to not have her fingernails stabbing repeatedly into my testicles anymore.

"I'm sure I have many, just please…PLEASE stop, Kaede-chan!" I begged. It hurt SO bad.

I was surprised when she did retract her fingernails from my scrotum and pull her arm out. Looking around, I realized that I was tied with a padlocked chain to a chair, my hands bound, as usual.

"Thank you, Kaede-chan," I bowed my head deeply before her. "Now, please tell me what it is that has you upset so that I can avoid doing it in the future."

"What has made me upset?" she asked quietly, licking her bloodied fingernails.

"Yes…I live only to please you, you know…"

"What has made me upset?" she said in her deep man-voice that sounded suspiciously like the Devil's. "You are ruining my reputation with your constant SHIT!"

I was really lost here, remembering fairly accurately a conversation with Sakura in which I purposefully dodged an opportunity to soil Kaede's precious reputation.

"Two girls. You're engaged to TWO GIRLS? What the fuck does that make me? Your fucking pet?" Kaede screamed, the blues of her eyes magnifying inhumanly in circumference.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I shouted incredulously. "Two girls?!? It's the first I've heard of it!"

Kaede plopped down on my lap (ack, PAIN!) and scooted towards me so that we were nose to nose. All I could see were her horrific eyes. "Let me say it nice and slowly for you so that your mental retardation doesn't get in the way, douche bag."

"Alright, fair enough."

"Don't interrupt me, you lizard testicle! Two girls came into class today. They were the princesses of the god and the demon world, respectively." Whoa, really? So the princess of demons was in our class along with Sia? "They were under the impression that you would marry one of them, and their fathers were in full support." Say WHAT? Why would this other princess want to marry me, too? What the hell's going on? "Both were very disappointed that you were absent, though, you little slut. So, you are fucking, then, both of these girls, and now Sakura as well?!"

"No! I'm not! I don't know why you would think that!"

"Fuck you, Rin-kun! FUCK you!"

"Look, I still don't really understand what you're upset about; even if I WAS having sex with these girls, which I'm not, I'm still a virgin you know, I don't understand what it has to do with you."

"Don't mock me, fuckhole," she snarled. Her veins were throbbing visibly; I had NEVER seen her this mad. "You're making me a liar with your actions! Do you know how much work I've done to ruin your reputation? Now, with THIS happening, everyone I know is looking at me like I'm crazy."

Well, it was ironic that she said that, since no white was visible at all in her transmuted, pulsating eyes of a serial murderer.

"You're throwing all of the work that I've done BACK in my face!" she screeched, and clenched her plump calves around my hips. "How dare you do this to me, you shit!"

"Ah, I think I understand," I said, nodding, trying not to show any discomfort. "Like I said, I'm here to make you happy! Do you want me to dump them, then? I will, if it will please you!"

Kaede looked taken aback; did something I say FINALLY make an impact to her? "R-really, Rin-kun? Do you really mean it?"

I nodded vehemently. "Yes! PLEASE trust me; I'd do anything for you!"

"Y-you would?"

"YES!"

"Really, really?"

"OF COURSE!!!" I shouted.

SLAP! She backhanded me hard, across the face. "You little lying cunt!" she hissed, and then picked up a pocket knife from the ground, flicking it open. "Do you know what this is?" she rumbled in a voice that stretched the realm of sanity.

"That would be a pocket knife," I pointed out.

"That would be a pocket knife!" she sang in a mocking tone. "Lose the sarcasm, princess, or you're gonna lose something else." With a graceful swoop, she plunged the knife directly towards my remaining good eye, stopping just in front of it. I froze, too scared to move, to even blink, to even BREATHE. "Rin-kun...you know how I liked it when your eyeball went…POP!...don't you? I really, REALLY enjoyed that."

"Yes, Kaede-chan, I know you liked it," I said emotionlessly, staring straight ahead at the gigantic blade that could pop me open at the slightest vibration.

She deftly maneuvered the blade beneath my eyeball, cutting through my lower eyelid so that the organ was lying on top of the knife. Her hand left its hilt, and so the pocket knife remained stuck directly underneath my eyeball.

"Don't blink, you ugly tramp…or I daresay the fucking thing will…POP! Isn't this exciting!" she cackled, bouncing her large ass on my legs, which sent shockwaves of pain up to my crotch with each impact. I grit my teeth and concentrated all my willpower on not blinking. My eye was already drying out…I didn't know how much longer I could keep my eye still.

I was going to go blind…Sia would never accept me as a husband if I lost my other eye!

"Let's see how those skanks like you when you have two empty eye sockets, dribbling blood," Kaede muttered in her deep, rumbling voice. "Then no one, not even our airhead slut of a friend, Sakura-chan, will find you even remotely attractive."

I could tell from Kaede's blood-tainted breath and floral perfume that she was still right in front of me. I lost track of how long I'd been sitting there, staring straight ahead.

"Aw, still no pop! I'm disappointed! You're pretty good at being braindead, Rin-kun."

"Thank you," I mouthed.

"But you know, Rin-kun, you did piss all over me this morning…don't you think it's time I returned the favor?"

"Yes," I mouthed silently, pulling willpower from secret pools of energy in my body I didn't know I had.

"Great! Then if you don't mind…" I felt her get off my legs and step around behind my chair. Before long, I felt her calves tighten around both of my ears. She was sitting naked ON TOP of my HEAD! I didn't know if I could stand it any longer. I took a deep breath and continued desperately, angrily concentrating, although now I had to worry about balance as well. I was so screwed. Sia-chan…I'm sorry.

NO! I can't give up now! I have a future suddenly! I can get married! I can't let her down, no matter what! Images of her celestial face flooded my mind's eye, and I focused on them intently.

Kaede made a big show of moaning huskily as she urinated in my hair. I leaned back slightly to encourage the warm, stinky liquid to run away from my eyeball.

After about twenty seconds of her ridiculous posturing, including a few exaggerated squeezes of her calves to the sides of my head, she cried out loud, and then said, "Well, Rin-kun…you may be useless in EVERYTHING, but at least you make a good toilet."

She leapt off and I could feel her breathe in my face. "Ah…still no…POP? Come on…do it for me…all you have to do is blink! So…BLINK!" she yelled, attempting to get me to flinch. Unfortunately for her , I kept staring adamantly ahead. "You know, you lying little bastard…you said you would do ANYTHING for me, right?

"Right," I mouthed.

"Okay, well this is my favor I want from you, Rin-kun…blink. Blink. You know you want to! Blink! Blink your fucking eye closed!" she giggled. "Never to open again."

'Sia-chan, save me,' I prayed silently, focusing on the princess's visage in desperation. 'I'm doing this for you, so…give me the power to do it!"

"Rin-kun…you traitor…I turned on the oven a while ago. I didn't want to have to resort to this, but…you leave me no choice," she fumbled with the padlock, released it with a snap, and led me, my desert-dry eye, and the knife lodged in it to the oven, where she kicked it open, forced me down with violent strength, and shoved my head inside, maintaining her arms around my stomach.

"Please enjoy the 230 degrees Celsius temperature, Rin-kun!" she sang as the heat lashed out at my face. Despite the pain and the molten, palpable damage it was doing to my skin, the blade somehow began sliding out of my eye socket. I tilted my head downwards to ensure that it didn't pop me on the way out. With unbearable slowness, it slid…slid some more…inched a little farther…

"God damn, just get out…" I hissed.

"What was that, Rin-kun?" Kaede asked in an adorable voice.

CLANG! It dropped out, dancing on the oven floor as it did so. My eye was whole still…it was a miracle!

"What was THAT, Rin-kun?" Kaede snarled, her fingernails digging into my skin.

I got up and threw her arms off me. "That was the knife, Kaede-chan." My eye was way too dry to see anything, but as I blinked, I began edging backwards out of fear of her thumbing it out herself.

"Amazing…it didn't work?" she murmured.

"I guess not," I said brightly. "You win some, you lose some, I guess!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Rin-kun…SO! If you have time…could you go to the market and buy some groceries?"

"Um…what?" I said, still blinking rapidly. I heard her footsteps approach ominously, and I shouted in response, "I'll go, I'll go, don't worry!"

That said, I scrambled and felt my way out of the house, to safety! I still had an eyeball, even, albeit a dry one.

Except…sight was still not one of my talents at the moment.

* * *

**A/N: **And that's a wrap! Feel free to leave reviews, especially on what you thought worked/didn't work/made you happy/made you want to vomit. Those are the best. I deeply appreciate all my readers, even the silent ones! :)

Alright! Stay tuned for more madness!

KoshKing777


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thanks for the feedback so far! I don't have too much to say…this is my favorite chapter so far, and I hope you will like it as well.

**Shuffle!**

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 4**

I lay for a while in the pleasant company of the shrubbery in front of Sia's house…which, by some odd twist of fate, was one of the only places I felt safe. I nursed my eye back to moist health by blinking constantly in the shade of a bush, not really wanting to imagine what Sia or Sakura would say if they walked by, seeing my ass pointing in the air, my face implanted into the verge.

In about twenty minutes, I stood up and gave this whole seeing business that everyone's so on about a shot…although the world was way too bright, my one eye seemed to have somewhat recuperated.

I sighed, clutched my numerous scars, welts, bruises, and areas of internal bleeding, and stepped off to begin my quest to the supermarket. To get food for Kaede, because she's useless.

As I limped forwards, I wondered whether I was still in complete mental health or not, especially considering I had just had a lengthy seizure that morning. I should probably have been feeling pretty good about things in general; the two most beautiful women I'd EVER seen or heard of, Sia and Sakura, appeared to be very romantically interested in me.

On top of that, there was that mysterious demon princess that Kaede had mentioned…she apparently was up for marrying me as well! Also, I had escaped with my eyeball still intact, despite having a pocket knife lodged in it for at least fifteen minutes! I was having a track record enormously improved from the previous weeks of cyclical torture at Kaede's hands.

So why on earth did I feel so frustrated, so FURIOUS? I couldn't shake the feeling that I wanted to get my hands on some…one…and just beat their brains out with a hammer. Something was wrong…I should have been feeling uneasily upbeat, not psychotically infuriated.

Well, the pain could have been one thing…it was pretty intense and had been accumulating for some time. It also could be the frustration of having multiple girls that are impossible to choose between suddenly like me, and on top of that I can't stand to even touch them without receiving a lightning bolt of agony.

Kaede…heh, she's another matter altogether, but it's safe to say that some of my anger has been kindled by her as well…the fact that she wouldn't let me do that one thing for her to prove that I am her trustworthy friend made me REALLY heated up. That's probably what it was. She just wouldn't have it…and I was trying to do something, SOLEly for her. I'm so sick of this. I don't want to see her again. Augh!

As I was limping and fuming my way across town, I stepped on a cicada. It was small vengeance, but I had to take my fury out on something, damn it!

Before long, I shuffled into the supermarket. As luck would have it, it was only then that I realized I was still wearing a Kaede-slashed uniform, soaked with her urine. Being awesome, however, I just shrugged, summoned a shopping cart with my astonishingly powerful fingers, and wielded it forward into the depths of the supermarket to take on the daunting task of thinking up any kinds of food that Kaede wouldn't scoff at and toss in the trash immediately.

'What would Kaede-chan like, no matter what mood she's in?' I thought to myself, looking up at the patterned ceiling. "I suppose meat would be good...AUGH!" I jumped, startled, when my shopping cart crashed into someone else's.

"AH, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I hurriedly exclaimed, bowing low several times in a row. It seemed a large portion of my awesomeness had been extinguished.

"Oh, Rin-kun!" a chirpy, familiar voice resounded. I looked up and was astonished to see my fiancée, of sorts, stooping in front of me and waving excitedly.

"S-Sia-chan!" I breathed, feeling a rush of warmth at seeing the face I'd been mentally picturing, from which to draw strength all morning and afternoon. I saw that I hadn't been recalling her beauty even close to accurately, however; I'd forgotten how much she made the air around her seem to glow with her awe-inspiring brightness. All feelings of anger I'd been building before were immediately shoved aside to make way for feelings of ecstasy.

"I didn't know you shopped here, future husband!" she announced.

"Well, you haven't had a very long time in town, so I'd guess you wouldn't," I responded brightly. "I'm what you might call a regular here; Kaede-chan has me do all the shopping."

"And I can see why," Sia slipped around our carts and sidled up to my arm in order to investigate its muscles. "These are, like, man-arms! HUARGH!" she exclaimed while making a terribly misguided muscleman pose.

I laughed nervously, "Thanks, Sia-chan."

"So, future husband Rin-kun! I seem to be finding you shopping here on the MEAT aisle. Do you find yourself here on purpose, or by the opposite of on purpose?" Sia continued, talking in a bracingly playful manner, her amber eyes expressively shimmering like gemstones with every word.

"On accident?"

"That's the one!"

"Well, you know, I actually did MEAN to go here," I laughed. "I just hadn't realized I'd gotten here yet!"

"Oh, Rin-kun! Always having meat on the mind! Come here a second!" She dragged me over to where her cart was before I slammed into it. However, she paused and sniffed me at length. "Wait…you smell…why do you smell like pee, Rin-kun?!"

THAT could be hard to explain. "Umm, I've had a really crazy day," I laughed nervously, "A wild animal peed on me earlier. And, um, tore up my clothes."

"Wow, that sounds like a really rough time!" She winked, somehow maintaining a delightful atmosphere despite the stench of Kaede's urine. "Did you sustain any wounds while this urinating scampering was under way?"

"Uh, yeah…" I said smiling warmly. "Um…would it be too much to ask…for you to heal me of a few of them?"

"Not at all, not at all, my dear Rin-kun! Oh, but of course!" She gave an exaggerated bow and giggled. "But in return you must do something for me!"

"Sure, anything!"

"Well, aren't you brave, future husband? I like that in a boy." Her eyes danced with a playful flame that couldn't be doused. "Are you sure that you want to commit to something of which you have no idea of its true nature?" she murmured in a sexual tone, bringing her full lips almost onto mine. Oddly, however, I still sensed no pheromones from her.

"If it's Sia-chan, I'll do anything," I said confidently. I do owe her my life, after all.

"Well, it's decided, then!" she crowed, grasped my wrist, and exclaimed, "Now! OFF! To the theater!" while whisking me down the aisle…despite the fact that there were no theaters in the supermarket, although I don't think such meaningless trifles mean anything to Sia.

I found myself standing behind my cart, facing the right side of aisle 7, whereas Sia was doing the same but facing the left side of the same.

"Are you ready for this, Rin-kun? Cuz I don't think you are!" Sia shouted, standing hunched over her shopping cart and revving its handle. She was clearly enjoying herself way too much.

"Oh, I'm ready! You don't even know how ready I am!" I exclaimed with a laugh. "You might THINK you're ready, but you're not even close to the extent of readiness that I'm at right now."

"Well that's good, future husband, because you're going to need that readiness when you're up against the CRIMSON EXTERMINATOR!!!...that's me…in Shopping Cart Challenge 3000!"

"WELL, I think the Crimson Exterminator may have just met her match, in the likes of: the Blue Annihilator!!!" I announced, pointing from my eyes to hers.

"Oh, is that a fact?"

"Well, I guess we'll have to see, won't we?"

"Alright, go Rin-kun!" Mayumi exclaimed.

"YES, Sia-chan! Kick that loser's ass!" Itsuki rooted Sia on.

Wait; Mayumi and Itsuki?!?

"When did you guys get here?" Sia asked quizzically.

"Yeah…and why are you two shopping together?" I asked suspiciously.

"And who are you, anyway?" Sia pointed at them with vindictive judgment.

"…and why are you two shopping together?" I asked again, feeling a little upset for no good reason.

"I can explain, I can explain!" Itsuki laughed. "Well! I find that the supermarket is a really fine place for trotting out the ladies. I was doing just that, helping lovely women finding their way around the store, when I realized that THIS CREEPER was following me!" he said, pointing at Mayumi, who blushed and glared simultaneously. Itsuki leaned in to Sia and whispered conspiratorially, "She just wants to suck my penis."

"Ohh," Sia said, nodding with grave understanding. "She MUST have problems then."

"Itsuki-kun, go back…to GRADE school!" Mayumi roared, kicking him, hard, in the teeth as she did so. He flew backwards and skidded across the tiles as Mayumi turned and ran a hand through her hair.

"So then," she continued, speaking to Sia. "My name is Mayumi Thyme, and I'm Rin-kun's best friend!"

"Oh, well then it's a pleasure to meet you, Mayumi-chan!" Sia said very politely.

"No, wait; I'M Rin-kun's best frien-" Itsuki's voice rose weakly from down the aisle.

"SHUT UP, NO ONE LIKES YOU!" Mayumi shouted him down.

"She's right," I said with a grin. "…about both things."

"Aww, are you saying I'm your best friend?" Mayumi cooed with a blush.

"Well…yes?"

Mayumi unexpectedly leapt on me, wrapping all four limbs around my torso (here I mouthed an 'owowowowowow' and went stalk stiff). "Oh Rin-kun, I love you SOO…" Her face beet-red, she suddenly stopped herself, climbed back off, and avoided eye contact with the two of us. (This was good, because Sia had narrowed her eyes to slits at her.)

"So…" I began again, feeling a little disoriented. "For this…contest…thingy…"

"Oh, the Shopping Cart Challenge 3000?" Sia chirped.

"Yes…" I paused, trying to revive my brain. "I just have to grab one of each brand of item on my side of the aisle before you do the same for your side…right?"

"That is correct, my good sir!" she paused and leaned in, breathing mock-huskily on my lips. "But you can give in anytime you want, if you don't feel up for the 3000!"

"Ooh, sounds fun!" Mayumi exclaimed. "I'll count you off!"

"Score! We got ourselves a counter!" I yelled with a laugh.

"Excuse me, could you please keep it down?" the store manager said very effeminately, walking over to us and twiddling his thumbs nervously. "Other customers are filing complaints and…"

"Oh, shut up, YOU!" Sia commanded, pointing at him with her finger of justice. "I don't like people with moustaches!"

The manager walked away very morosely.

"Okay, on your marks!"

Sia stooped back down and began dancing in place in preparation for the battle.

"Get set!"

I licked my hand and slicked back my hair. Cuts down on drag and all.

"GO!" Mayumi belted out, so Sia and I jetted off, but we both simultaneously realized we didn't need to run at all, and so quickly tried to stop, but both slid into each other in our efforts to brake.

She grunted as her body flew into mine, at which point we stared into the other's eyes in silent adoration. It was like a shell of serenity had encapsulated our two adjoined bodies.

"Wow," I said. "This feels kind of holy or something."

"Sacred, even!" Sia said with a nod. "You have a very nice face, Rin-kun."

"Oh, why thank you, Sia-chan. I've always thought that you are the most gorgeous woman that has ever been born, and I still do."

"Oh, how very lovely. Thank you!" She paused. "Maybe we should continue this foreplay after the contest."

"That might be a good idea."

"WHAT are you guys DOING? You're the worst contestants in the history of contests EVER!" Mayumi shouted, pulling at her hair.

"Hey, that's a little harsh!" I said.

"Yeah, I mean, we're pretty much awesome," Sia added.

"Like I already said, GO!"

We launched back into action, driving like drunken banshees down the aisle, snatching with the utmost rapidness every different item we came in contact with. I was flying, clearly using my knowledge of the aisle's layout to seize the advantage over Sia. There was no way I was going to lose.

Out of nowhere, Itsuki came up alongside me and roughly shouldered me into the aisle that was covered with cans of jam and preserves.

"HAH!" he spat in my face. "Everyone knows, a real man always lets the woman win!"

"You FOOL!" I condemned him. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

"…Well…yes!"

"Good. Then, get out of my way!" I shoved him aside and attempted to get up amidst the jam and shards of broken glass. It was incredibly difficult, and I failed several times.

Sia soon arrived at my stage in the aisle's progress.

"Sia-chan! Help! Your comrade has fallen in battle to an enemy battalion of JAMS!"

She gasped in mock distress. "Oh good sir, how insufferably terrible a fate to have befallen one so noble as yourself!" Being nice, she stooped and helped me stand up (during which time I tried to focus on neither her breasts smooshed against my back, nor the stabbing pain elicited from contact with her body).

Once I stood up and was out of the jam, she bowed and apologized to me. "I really am sorry, Rin-kun! I didn't mean for this to happen…I…I didn't mean for ANYTHING to happen!!" She had apparently succumbed to mock dramatics, in the throes of which she collapsed in my chest. I tried to prop her up without touching her dainty, sacred, picture-perfect body…which became more difficult when she began play-punching my chest as part of her acting. Which would have been fine if it didn't send tendrils of torture throughout my organs.

"Well…we've come this far, my darling," I spoke stoically to my future wife.

"Indeed. Shall we endeavor to finish this presently?"

"But of course. Now…let us…EMBARK!" I gave her a brief head start, since I chose the starting time. It was a long, arduous journey to the end of the aisle, but she made it to the end of the aisle just in time to seize victory.

"Whew!" she wheezed, leaning over with her hands on her calves. "I didn't know…that…the Shopping Cart Challenge 3000…or whatever… would be so exhausting."

I laughed. "Yup."

She looked up with her playful glint still in her lovely eyes. "So shall we go around behind the supermarket?"

"Do what?"

"To heal you, you big baby! You should have seen your face!"

So without much more ado, I found myself in the uninhabited area directly behind the supermarket with the Princess of the Gods.

"Wow, I didn't know that the area behind the supermarket would be so creepy…anyway! Lie down on the ground if you would, future husband!"

"Alright," I answered, making sure to kick the used hypodermic needles that littered the ground out of the way before I did so.

"Now…" the vixen said, kneeling down beside me. "I'll need you to take off your outer garments."

"Oh, sure," I said, and began getting out of them. "Why, do you need to do that for the magic to work?"

"Naw, they just smell like pee, that's all!"

"Fair enough!" Once I was down to my boxers, Sia bent over me (I tried and failed to avoid admiring her breasts' swaying as she did so) and began speaking in the language of the Gods.

A caressing, emerald breeze swept around us, encasing us in a cocoon of visible energy. It felt strangely familiar as her magic wrapped gently around and through my body…the feeling of comfort and sweet relief was unmatchable. All my wounds dissipated. I couldn't help but make an audible sound of pleasure as a rush of whispering winds sealed up every cut and scrape.

"Rin-kun…" she mouthed as she finished her incantation. The area turned a murky brown again. The princess began to lean closer and closer to me, her eyes dazed with passion. I suddenly realized that she was going to kiss me, so I squawked and scooted away.

Her eyes turned as big as ostrich eggs. "Wh-what's wrong?"

I sighed and thought about it, feeling that it couldn't hurt to tell her. "Sia-chan…I've never actually told anyone this, but…I'm…" I tried to think of a good way to say it. "I really…don't like girls to touch me. Physical contact with women, ESPECIALLY beautiful women like yourself, um, just hurts like crazy. I mean, it just feels like I'm touching burning coals. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, I get it! That's terrible!" Sia gasped, and crawled a little closer to me.

"Watch out for those needles on the ground there," I murmured in warning.

"Eww!" She evaded them and sat right next to me, but was careful not to touch. "So…have you seen any therapists or anyone about this condition?"

I shook my head vehemently. "No…I just feel like it's kind of personal. I keep hoping to just work through it, but so far, it doesn't seem to be getting any better."

"Hmm…well I'm really sorry about that, Rin-kun," she said seriously. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't know, really, Sia…" I sighed and put my head between my knees. "To be honest, it's actually the least of my worries right now." A beautiful version of Kaede's face entered my mind, and guilt snaked around my soul as my thoughts went to her.

"Rin-kun…well, I hope you get better…because, you know…eventually I'll…" Her face flushed and I caught a split-second whiff of her pheromones. "Ah…want us to touch each other…" Her eyes widened as she finished, looking down at my shoes.

"It'll work out somehow, Sia-chan," I tried to reassure her, but as I got up and began putting my shredded clothes on again, I had a feeling that things wouldn't work out the way that Sia wanted them to. I couldn't believe I'd forgotten; Kaede needed me still. Regardless of Sia's wish to marry me, I couldn't just abandon my old friend while she was still in need of my care.

I would have to turn down the marriage.

Shit. That was the only thought that had been keeping me going today.

I was going to turn down marriage with the perfect girl because a girl who tortures me every day was in dire need of my constant presence.

Life and I just aren't getting along.

"Rin-kun, what's wrong? You look really down!" Sia exclaimed.

I glanced at her, but I felt my previous euphoria and enthusiasm draining away…I would never have a future with her. Damn.

"I…I need to go take care of something, Sia-chan," I said, and bowed to her politely, although the skin on my face felt heavy with dread. "Thank you very much for your care. I'll see you at school tomorrow.

"Wait! WAIT! Where are you going? What's the matter?" she yelled at my back as I walked morosely away. I didn't respond.

* * *

I finished shopping with my heart plotting against me; I swooped from bitterness to despair to fear throughout the time since my emotionally murky re-entrance into the grocery store. The pain of my existence is something I only truly realized today.

Before long, I was toting my bags of bitterly generous helpings of food down the street. What…the HELL was going on? My control had been shoved out the window recently. I would have never wanted Sia OR Sakura's attention; I'd only aspired to be there for Kaede. I had already prepared myself for the physical and personal sacrifice of resigning the rest of my life to Kaede's soulless hands. I desired nothing else but to be her crutch through life. Even though I can't stand her…even though I hate her sometimes. We have a connection, though, and I'm not going to break it for my own desires; hell, I never even had any until this week.

Do I love Sia? Probably. I don't see how I couldn't, my mind and heart have been so easily addicted to her. I don't think I love Sakura, either, but having spoken to her again certainly cast an interesting light on how other childhood friends I know (I won't mention any names) may have begun deteriorating in the heart and mind.

So now what? I'm at a crossroads…do I want to succumb to my selfish goals and desires and pursue true happiness? Or should I continue my original plan for my life and continue to be a sponge for Kaede's hate while caring for her? It should be obvious…but it's not. I don't want to leave Kaede, and that's a sincere fact.

I arrived back at the Fuyou household and looked at the door I'd grown to fear. This whole yard and building has spawned many terrible bad memories in my life. I want to burn it all, and yet I don't want to let go of them, as those memories are precious and important to me.

I'm the only one who could possibly understand the real Kaede. Likewise, I'm the only one who could properly give her the care necessary for her soul's recuperation.

My childhood has already been impaled with the obscene and violent. There's nothing more to do than continue pursuing an answer to all my questions now that my persona, innocence, and sanity have been destroyed.

I cautiously set the bags down on the front steps and then retreated out the yard, not ready for more of Kaede's attention. My mental state was already so fractured that she would probably convince me to kill myself.

I continued to be absorbed in my thoughts as I stepped through the twilight city. The bazaar was now closing as I passed through, and people stared at me for some reason as I went. I have no idea why.

Sia's upset face from that afternoon haunted my eyes; I could see her and sense her precious proximity everywhere…but I suppose I was just being obsessive. And depressed.

Halfway there to my favorite haunt, the dam, I encountered the two girls I hate most in the world: Daisy and Cin, Kaede's closest friends. Those two are a couple of gargoyles in angels' clothing.

"Oh, hiii, Rin-kun! Why so glum-looking today?" the magenta-haired Cin asked me, leaning over in a completely unnecessary exhibition of her breasts.

"I don't know, but I'm definitely not in the mood to talk to YOU," I told her shortly, although that was probably not the most strategic thing to say if I actually wanted to avoid their wrath.

"Look who thinks he can come up with good comebacks!" Daisy sneered, ever the hyena. "So, Dickbreath, where are you headed at such a late hour? Doesn't Kaede-chan give you a lights-out time?"

"…You mean a curfew?" I said.

"Ooh, look at the nerd who knows big words!" Cin ejaculated.

"While this has been a truly scintillating time, ladies, I do need to get going…" I tried to say, but the women blocked me from walking any further. Trying not to show my fear of contact with them, I backpedaled casually.

"Rin-kun, there's something we've been wondering…" Cin said.

"…how did you, the ugliest excuse for a person in the entire school AND a pathetic loser, not to mention a freeloader, get the attention of two _princesses_?" Daisy inquired with mock sweetness taken out of Kaede's book.

"Believe me," I sighed, "I have NO idea. I didn't want this to happen."

"Ha! I knew it! You _are_ gay, aren't you?" Daisy crowed. "You're the most fail guy on the face of the planet!"

"Not to mention the way our poor Kaede-chan is STUCK with you, when you do nothing but treat her terribly. What kind of pathetic douche bag are you, anyway?"

"I'll be seein' ya!" I sang abruptly, and proceeded to walk right past them. My breath hitched when I felt Daisy's dry fingers slash tendrils of pain up my arm.

"One day, Rin-kun, I'll cut off your dick, for Kaede-chan. With pleasure. And no one will be at fault but yourself," Daisy whispered in my ear like the lovely person she is.

"Yes, you're just bringing it all on yourself!" Cin added redundantly.

"As usual, it's been a real treat and one of my favorite conversations ever, but GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" I screamed, which removed Daisy's fucking hand off my arm.

Striding away, I heard Cin say, "Geez; overreaction much?" I glanced back and saw her flip me off as Daisy seemed to be silently cracking up with laughter.

"Bitches, fucking son of a…" I muttered as I kept stomping towards my favorite thinking spot, the dam. It was only when I actually arrived that I took the time to see through my rage-tinted vision and notice that, for once, I wasn't alone here.

A girl (of course…why is it ALWAYS a girl?!?) stood upon my spot, looking at me with deep, tremendously soulful eyes. She was about my age, but had a VERY different body than mine. I'd always thought Asa was pretty curvaceous, but this girl showed her up very badly in that department. Read: BIG in only all the right places. Which is to say, this girl was probably a pervert's dream girl. Her hair was as blue a hue as I could possibly imagine, and her eyes appeared to be blood red.

What I noticed most, however, and what disturbed me, was that I could sense her pheromones from a good five feet away; she was clearly a person who was okay with being horny all day, every day, being that she was by herself, just staring out over the water and yet still smelled this potent. I suppose she could have just been masturbating, though…regardless, I had to be careful; horniness equals touchiness, after all, unless they're a lesbian.

I'm not a person who necessarily likes women, but I'm also not a jerk like those two people I was just talking to. Therefore, I decided to at least attempt to share the spot with her today and hold a conversation. After all, if she found this spot as attractive as I did, maybe we were more alike than I would have thought.

So I found myself standing next to the demon girl, observing the ripples in the water.

"This is such a peaceful sight, don't you think?" the girl said, her voice deliriously gorgeous even in just a murmur.

I summoned up my courage so that I could avoid looking like an idiot to the best of my ability. "Y-y-y-y…" And failed miserably. I just couldn't get my mind off how pretty she was.

The piece of art next to me giggled so cutely that I briefly considered drowning myself. If only I was gay; then girls being perfect wouldn't be so PAINFUL!

"You're really cute. So…what brings you out here?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice just wouldn't come out of my throat. I bashed angrily on my chest, to no avail. Then I tried to look at her, but found that I couldn't even maintain eye contact with her phenomenally gorgeous, powerful gaze.

Basically, I suck at being a person.

That horribly musical giggle came again. "Don't worry, I don't bite. You're Rin-kun, aren't you?"

I took a huge breath (for confidence, hopefully), and said, "Wh……………Um………….How do you know my………um………….ARGH!" This was HORRIBLE! Something about her just smothered all of my self-confidence until I was just a whimpering sack of potatoes! The embarrassment was ridiculously huge. If only she wasn't so god damned pretty, I wouldn't be so ashamed…hell, I probably wouldn't have even had a problem talking to her in the first place if she wasn't.

"We knew each other as kids," the being of ethereal beauty and flawlessness told me. Seems to be a recurring theme in my life. "My name is Nerine, and I've been waiting to meet you again for many, many years."

I wanted to look her in the face, smile gently, and welcome her. Really, I did. But I couldn't breathe at the moment. My anxiety was skyrocketing like crazy. Why, oh why, did she have to have such amazing skin, boobs, hair, lips, eyes, legs, EVERYTHING?

Suicide was beginning to look more and more like the best option for me.

Without warning, I suddenly realized I was talking. I hadn't really been paying attention to what I'd been saying, but, to my horror, when I became aware of my mouth's movement's I was saying: "and so I fell on the duck who climbed down the piece of blackberry cobbler in a very sick piece of the moonlit sky on the totem pole face of my pet frog Spike." I stared in nauseous shock at the water first, and then at Nerine, who was looking at me in nothing short of pure, mind-boggled astonishment. Now I had no CHOICE but to explain myself. "Um, I'm sorry! Sometimes it just takes me a little bit to get the electrons fired up in my vocal cords. I had to practice, you see?!" Lies, nothing but filthy lies. In reality, I blamed it on her gigantic boobs. I don't know why, but somehow they had to be the evil mastermind behind all my problems. "Please don't hate me," I added to her as a cherry on top.

Nerine smiled. "I see! Don't worry. I was starting to wonder if my childhood friend had grown up to be a lunatic." I would have laughed if I wasn't so ridiculously sad.

"I can see why!" I exclaimed, on the verge of tears. "But please believe me, I am actually sane, I'm just, um…" I ruffled my hair as I tried to summon the courage to say what I was. "…nervous."

She blushed in a way that made my heart soar, despite myself. "Oh really? That's okay, then, because I'm really nervous too!"

At that I really did smile genuinely, and was finally able to make eye contact with the demon. "What do you have to be nervous about? You're…" I really didn't have the courage to finish THAT one. "…ah…you're…a…good-looking young woman." Wow. I sounded like I was a 70-year-old on opium. It's times like this that I support firearm-carrying movements. My only regret would be that I wouldn't get to see the lovely sight of my brains drifting away atop the dancing, shimmering waves. That would be an incredible thing.

"Wh-why thank you, Rin-kun!" Nerine stammered. She eyed me, took a deep breath, and said, "I think you're very good-looking as well."

"Well, you're one of the only ones who think so, but thanks," I said. I wanted to be bracing towards her, to hug her, to be welcoming and warm…but I was just so freakishly incapable of doing so.

"D-do you mind if I stand closer to you?" Nerine breathed in a dramatic, overpassionate way that made her voice seem even more addictive to listen to.

"I want you to, Nerine-chan, but I'm scared." Suddenly realizing that that wouldn't make any sense, I quickly added, "I have gynophobia, by the way. Girls in close proximity freak me out, especially when they touch me. Then I get lots of pain. Lots and lots."

"Oh my gosh, really? That's so sad!" Nerine gasped.

"It's not so bad," I said with as much warmth as I could artificially inject, "It's really only debilitating when it's a pretty girl." I grinned at her. "Unfortunately, Nerine-chan, you're really pretty, so that's going to be a barrier we'll have to overcome if we're going to try and become friends again."

"Thanks again, but I'm not really _that_ pretty. (HAH! Lies.) We're already friends, though, don't you think? You wouldn't have told me all that if you didn't think of me as one, right?" she said, looking out at the water.

"You're probably right. That's a good point," I said. We stood there for a few moments in silence, absorbing the still beauty of the mass of stretching water.

"It's so peaceful," Nerine said sacredly.

"Yeah. Watching the ripples of the water always calms me down when I'm feeling stressed."

"I can see why." She looked at me with worry in her eyes. "Rin-kun…do you know if it hurts when _you_ touch girls? Or is it just vice versa?"

"I…don't know. Why?"

She breathed out, slowly. "I thought maybe…it might be a little soon, but…you could try…touching me…" her voice got more and more squeaky with anxiety as she spoke, until she sounded like a mouse. "And…we could…see…"

"Ah…I…" I looked out at the water, my heart suddenly beating violently. This was as soothing and peaceful an environment as I could ask for to try this experiment, but…then there was the problem of me being nowhere near good enough to touch someone with as arresting looks as Nerine. To say I felt unworthy would be a vast, vast understatement. She was a work of perfection, making even Sia and Sakura look dull in comparison.

"If you don't want to, that's okay, forget I said anything," she choked.

Determination suddenly filled me. What kind of man am I if I can't help a girl as incredible as Nerine stop being upset? Even if it hurt…I would do it to help her.

"Okay. Let's try it," I said, my voice taking on a deeper quality with the added layer of confidence.

"Are you sure?" Her eyes lit up, and the influx of luscious crimson from her lips and irises made me abruptly feel a certain amount of physical attraction to her. Maybe she was right; maybe this could WORK! If I could touch her, then, that means…we could DATE! Me and the girl more beautiful than the fucking SUN! That would be ridiculously fantastic!

Suddenly I felt a huge rush in endorphins. She was making me so abnormally happy, I felt like I was about to explode. "Yes, I'm sure," I said, confidently. I walked up next to her, noting that the aura around her didn't freak me out like other girls'. My heart was still bashing obnoxiously away, though; it knew what I must do. I paused in front of her, and looked her in the face. Her lips were parted slightly, and felt a wild desire to want to put mine up to them and kiss her. Never before had I wanted to kiss a girl…but I was way past smitten with this Nerine girl.

"Is it…okay if I touch you on…your arm?" I murmured, fear and fascination mingling to create an alien-sounding passion behind my words.

"Yes," she whispered, her radiant eyes continuing to stay my hand with their indelible perfection. "Don't worry, Rin-kun…I know it won't hurt you."

"Okay, N-Nerine-chan…" I tried to summon my courage and beat down the choking sob that was stuck in my throat. "I'll do my best." I squinted my eyes and began shakily lowering my fingertips to do what I'd never deliberately done in my life: touch a girl's body.

"Don't be afraid," she whispered even more faintly. "I want you to touch me. All of my heart is with you."

"Thanks," I laughed nervously. "I'll try not to let you down." I furrowed my brow and continued my descent. Down, down, down…I was almost there.

"It will be fine…you can do it…"

Unfortunately, I was stuck, hovering just above her snow-white skin. "I…don't know if I can…I hate the pain…" I said with clenched teeth. I could feel that pain already. It was radiating off her sacred body.

"Please, _please_…"

"Damn it," I said, "I want to, but I just…CAN'T! I can't get any closer!"

"I know you can do it. You've got to, for yourself, Rin-kun. I believe in you."

I made a groan from the back of my throat. "Okay…but…this is for you…Nerine-chan!"

"Alright, I'm ready," she closed her eyes. I couldn't let her down now.

I mentally forced my way through my shaking nerves and self-defense barriers and thrust my hand on her arm. I heard her gasp, but that was the only surprise. There was no pain…no suffering in the feel of her tissue.

It was soft…warm and soft, and so, so incredibly sacred to me. The first skin of a girl I'd ever touched was this, and I liked it.

"Nerine-chan…I…" I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I did it."

"Good job," she said without a trace of sarcasm, turning her head to me and looking at me demurely. "Does it hurt?"

"No, not at all! It feels, um…" I felt heat rush to my cheeks. "Ah…it, um…feels nice…"

"I'm glad for you," she said in a voice that really conveyed the truth of her words.

"Well…I'm glad you were the first girl I've ever touched."

"Thanks!" she squeaked. "Um, would you…like to touch me…anywhere else?

I blushed even more, and couldn't ignore an increase in her pheromones' potency. "Well…yes…but, um…maybe this is enough for today."

"Okay, we'll take it slow," she said supportively, and her scent climbed twice as high for some reason.

My world seemed a little dimmer as my fingertips left her incredible flesh. "Ah…so…do you think it would maybe be okay if we met out here some other time this week?"

"Sure, I'd really like that, Rin-kun!" she said with a musical quality to her voice. Even more pheromones flooded the air around us…it was getting to be VERY stinky. "But are you going to school tomorrow?"

I had to take a step back from surprise. "No way! Do you go to Verbena, too?"

"Yes!" she giggled.

"Well!" I chucked back. "I guess I will see you then…then."

"Alright, we can make plans later!" she said, her skin beginning to flush red.

"Okay, see ya tomorrow! It was nice meeting you!"

"Yes, it was! And, I want to say something…" She took a deep breath, and then exclaimed, "I love you!" That threw me off for a second, but I thought about it and realized that I was VERY, very taken with her. If I wanted to have a chance to date this demon, I knew I had to respond.

"I love you too," I said with a shaky smile and a nervous laugh, the words sounding bizarre coming out of my mouth; I never thought I would ever say that to anyone.

Nerine gasped, nodded, and turned back to the water with her eyes closed.

* * *

I skipped all the way back to the Fuyou household, feeling upbeat until I reached the gate. As was a familiar occurrence by now, my mood then proceeded to drop like a rock.

"…aaaand now I'm reminded why my life sucks!" I laughed bitterly. Remembering Kaede's recent welcomings back into our house, I looked around for a weapon, but couldn't find anything save a concrete slab of flat rock that lay beneath our drainpipe. It wasn't much, but I figured it was something I could use to at least deter Kaede from another attempted bodily desecration. I would never, EVER hurt her, but I was counting on her not knowing or believing that; I could hopefully threaten my way to safety if was pressed.

Concrete slab in hand, I unceremoniously threw open the door. In complete contrast to the previous few visits I'd made, the place was brightly lit. I came in to find Kaede up, eating a Cup Noodle and watching TV.

She coolly looked over at me, down at the slab, and then back up at my eyes. "You didn't come back in after getting the groceries."

"I didn't deem it necessary at the time. I just wanted some more time to myself, that's all."

"I see, I see." She took a bite of her apparent midnight snack. "Bark-kun is coming over tonight. Please try not to ruin my time with him with your shitty disposition." Ah, so that's why she was acting sane. Her boyfriend, a demon named Bark, is a pretty unlikable guy if you ask me…I don't honestly think he values her as anything other than a sperm depository, but that could just be my biased opinion.

"Oh, great!" I said with false sincerity. "Well, I hope you have a great time."

"I will, as long as I never have to smell your stinking ass anywhere near us."

"I promise I won't intervene," I said with as much gentility as I could. "Is there anything else you'd like me to do for you before he gets here?"

"Other than getting a sex change and bashing your head open on some bricks?"

I laughed. "That was a good one, Kaede-chan. You always have a way with the Japanese language."

"Yeah, get bent, Cuntface."

A small spark of wonder hit me then…would I be able to touch Kaede as well without feeling the pain? Or was it just Nerine, or other non-Kaede girls?

Well! Only one way to find out!

Like an idiot, I walked over and lightly brushed the side of her arm with my fingertips. There was no pain, whatsoever…I was really free to touch any girl! Amazing!

She jerked away and her face ripped into a furious, wolf-like scowl, void of any humanity. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU FAGGOT PIECE OF SHIT?!?"

I chuckled. "I just wanted to wish you good night, Kaede-chan."

"Where the FUCK do you get off, thinking you can touch ME?! You miserable sack of FUCK!!" She was beyond enraged, now. Unbridled insanity was emanating from her. Made me glad I was carrying a concrete slab.

"Hey, it was a one-time thing, alright? No worries! Like I said, have an awesome night with Bark-kun, alright?" Without giving her a chance to remember how to pronounce words, I hopped up the stairs and went to the bathroom.

I ran my fingers down my own skin…it had nothing on the feel of Nerine's, and neither did Kaede's. Nerine has got to by my favorite person EVER. My ecstasy had returned, and I could barely contain my excitement to see her at school tomorrow.

'I guess I'll have to think of a good date idea,' I mused to myself. 'Or else asking her out could be hard.' There were quite a few problems with the whole dating Nerine thing, named Kaede, Sia, and Sakura, but what I felt countered them a little was that I never, EVER felt like this. I was feeling, for the first time, sincere PASSION and OBSESSION for someone…and it felt awesome.

I felt guilty, after thinking that, however, because I realized that that was a lie; I had been feeling those two emotions for Sia all day. Was I really going to drop her that quick? She was so pretty…so energetic…and since I could touch her, as well, wouldn't that make her a viable dating choice too? Besides, I met her first, and she wants to marry me.

"Ugh," I groaned, suddenly realizing that I had fallen back in love with Sia in the past minute. Which isn't to say that I'd fallen out of love with Nerine…instead, I was now very evenly torn between the two. And felt like taking Kaede's advice and breaking my skull over some pointy bricks.

After finishing my business, I exhaustedly sauntered back to my bedroom, still unsure over what action to take concerning the two girls that had recently re-entered my life. Hell, if those two could work, Sakura could be a lot of fun to date too, now that I could touch her as well.

Gahh. Everything is crazier than chickens being eaten by an alligator. Which is bloody and, frankly, a weird image to come to my mind for ANY reason.

I pulled out my outfit for school the next day and set to work sewing it, sitting on my bed. However, a massive, painful slam smashed the left side of my skull, and I was promptly out cold.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was in a most precarious position; one of my worst so far in life, actually. It was pitch black in the room, and so slightly difficult to get my bearings, but my feet seemed to have been handcuffed BEHIND my head, which required unnatural contortion on my part, and really hurt my back.

If that wasn't bad enough, I was completely naked, so that my crotch was dangling directly in front of my face. Needless to say, I was completely unable to move, and I had no idea what room of the house I was in.

"Rin-kun," Kaede's voice came from above me in the pitch blackness, although it seemed to be vibrating more than usual. "Today's activity is a special one. You've been so good recently about these things that I was going to give you a night off. But I think you've earned more quality bonding time with me! Aren't you excited?"

"Yes, Kaede-chan," I replied glumly, nervous about the future of my very exposed genitals.

"I mean, you're just such a conniving little shit, Rin-kun. It's really nice to be able to be friends with a person like YOU."

"I don't see what you mean, Kaede-chan, but I'm sure you're right. Can you please let me go? I'll make snacks for you and Bark-kun…"

"Don't interrupt. Like I said, I was going to give you a night off, but then you had to go and start acting like you own the place. First, you just dropped the groceries off on the ground without coming in. Second, you come in here after fucking MIDNIGHT, holding a piece of concrete. I mean, what the fuck are you going to do with that? Third, you had the BALLS (here she suddenly grabbed my nutsack in her tightly-clenched hand, stabbing her sharp nails through the brittle skin) to TOUCH me."

"Kaede-chan…" I gasped in flat panic. "You don't understand…"

"I just don't think it's working out between us, Rin-kun," Kaede sang, peeling out her nails from my scrotum as I gasped hoarsely in horrific pain. She made a big show of fumbling around with an array of tinkling metallic objects in a sack that she had laid next to me. "Let's see…I believe you are familiar with knitting needles, yes?" She waved a few in the air to illustrate. "Since you seem so keen up undoing my handiwork with them, I think it's time you got even MORE intimately involved with your tools."

"No," I whimpered. "Please, Kaede-chan, don't do this, I beg you." Vomit began ascending my throat along with sick dread.

"You don't have the right to beg for anything. You're evil, and should never have been born," Kaede reminded me like it was common knowledge. "Therefore, I, however, do have the right to do this to you." I felt a needle get shoved through my perennial body (the sensitive line between one's crotch and one's ass) and the vomit was no longer containable. The pain was so unrealizable, so flooding, that it was just a gut reaction for me to heave everything I'd eaten onto the other side of my stomach. Kaede seemed to be anticipating this, for she wiped off the curds with a towel she had brought along.

"Rin-kun…" Kaede chirped seductively, and I gasped in panic as I felt the point of a second needle slide gradually up my inner calf, towards my crotch. "Where's it gonna go?" Fortunately, she stopped just short of my testicles and stabbed the needle into the pelvic skin right next to them.

"Sooo many good opputunities…" she mused, and then crawled on top of me so that every part of her was covering every part of me. I realized that she was only wearing her bra and panties, for some reason, but the onslaught of skin contact added even more suffocating pain in addition to the needles.

"Open up," she murmured, her face dangling over mine. I obediently did so, although I felt like my entire body was being shredded with xact-o knives. She then dangled a needle in my mouth. First, she moved it dramatically around all my teeth, then wandered the point to the roof of my mouth, and then abruptly stabbed it THROUGH my FUCKING tongue!!!

"AAGHGHHGAH! Ugghauagu!" Blood ran out from the puncture in my tongue and quickly pooled in my throat. Kaede just laughed, pulled the needle out, lifted up my draining tongue and pinned it to the roof of my mouth with the same needle. She kept slamming her fingers into it, hammering it farther and farther through like a nail. "OhhhHGHUhg, UUNUNG!" I was crying, barfing, choking, bleeding like crazy. My mind was a pain-spiked wreck. I just wanted to FUCKING DIE ALREADY!

Kaede giggled and pushed one more needle all the way through my left cheek, which began pooling blood as well. I was going to die soon from blood loss, I hoped. "I think that's good enough for up here." She took care to slap her covered crotch against mine a couple of times, which put more pressure on the needles she'd already inserted down there.

"Okay, let's get back down to work, shall we?" Here, she fluidly reached her fingers inside my ass, which stung VERY badly since it was her touching, and she then proceeded to jab another needle inside my asshole. I squawked through my blood-soaked vomit as I felt hot blood spew from my ass.

Kaede traced the back, top, and front of my dick with the point of another needle, lightly disrupting the outer layer of epidermal tissue. "You're so fucking small, compared to Bark-kun. To think, my childhood friend would be so disappointingly developed." The point of the needle sliced its way back up to the entrance of my urethra. "I think it's for the best that we destroy it, don't you?" I, honestly, could hardly care less by this point, since my entire face was covered with pooling blood. I was very, very dead.

Kaede first dipped the point in my dickhole, but only slightly. She then chose to move it back out and down the front a bit, and then impaled my penis…all the way through…with the needle. Despite my already dismal state of being, I screamed and groaned with a distinctly inhuman quality to my voice. Everything inside my mind exploded. SHE STABBED MY FUCKING PENIS!!! FUCK!! SHIT!!!

Suddenly the doorbell rang. "SHIT!" Kaede screamed, and ran out of the room without another word.

AH, pain, AH, pain, AH, pain!!! Where is there NOT pain!?!?

My hands were free, and I felt around as my focus was fleeting for the key to my footcuffs. It, thankfully, lay right next to her bag. I jiggled it into the hole, and FINALLY was able to free my body from its forced contortion. I quickly but delicately removed all the needles, and thought fast; I KNEW that my only hope for survival at all was Sia, I'd lost so much blood.

* * *

**A/N: **Yup. Please let me know what you thought!! I hope to have the next one up soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This was a long one in coming, and for that I apologize! It is extra-long, however. I hope you enjoy the newest installment of Shuffle! Moonbite!**

**This one is a sort of reassessment of where all the characters stand; an observation of the would-be status quo, if you will. Fear not, however, as interesting, important things will still happen in fairly quick succession.**

**Shuffle!**

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 5**

My shattered consciousness stumbled brokenly around in the dark, trying to locate itself in multiple planes of reality. I was a punctured sack of blood, draining out of places that ought never bleed in the first place.

I ran my hand along the wooden walls and realized my session with her must have taken place in the laundry room; fortunately, on the first level.

I was conscious enough to be able to wait until the voices of my two enemies moved to the upper level of the house before throwing open the door and flopping out of the room, fumbling for escape. Blood emptied out of my crotch and ass like they were two soaked sponges, supplying seemingly infinite spewage. I had apparently run out of vomit, but the dry heaves continued as I scooted out the door...these prompted violent splashes of foamy blood to erupt from my swampy mouth.

'Sia's...Sia's house is my hope...I must go there...' was my mental mantra as I slid down the street, completely nude and moist with several bodily fluids.

In a few seconds that seemed stretched out to ridiculous lengths, I stumbled through Sia's gate and expelled my last bit of energy to leap up onto their porch and slam my hand once – forcefully, with the last of my effort – on their door before sliding down and collapsing face first.

I hoped they heard, and it seemed I was in luck; before long I was aware of a jumble of activity approaching me from within the house and, soon, surrounding me.

The next thing I knew, I was seated in Sia and Eustoma's dining room, facing them. I felt totally unbalanced; my state of mind had gone from complete pain and desperation to euphoric contentment. It was weird.

Eustoma had seen fit to clothe me in another of his god-fashioned robes, but I was still nude underneath. However, it was certainly a step up from being completely naked. It also gave me the opportunity to take furtive, investigative looks down at my penis, which had been remarkably healed back to full health. Incredibly, Sia had somehow healed it from one end to the other. It made me a little self-conscious to know that she'd dealt with my crotch in such intimate detail, but I was more grateful than words.

The two gods who had assisted in my rehabilitation were looking at me with deep concern. "Are you very certain you're alright, Rin-dono?" Eustoma said.

I nodded vehemently. "Yeah, I feel like everything's been healed totally back to normal....uhh, thanks again, to both of you. I can't even express how grateful I am..."

"Rin-kun..." Sia said, her voice reflecting her inner distress. She was wearing VERY tight cotton sleeping garments and, apparently, no bra...which was way more distracting than it ever reasonably should have been. "What in the world happened? Who would possibly do such a thing?"

Although I was momentarily tempted to tattle on my sadistic childhood friend, some misplaced sense of loyalty beckoned me to continue covering her up. "I, uh...I was mugged by people while walking home from the dam where I go to relax sometimes."

Sia sat up, straight as a stalk. "What a bunch of...monstrous...MUTANTS!" she spat, causing me to chuckle at her intensity. "It's not funny, you're taking this far too lightly! Maybe we should move, Rin-kun, if this area is too dangerous! The God world has no crime rate at all, and that way we could both be safe..."

I smiled sadly and closed my eyes. "That's okay, Sia-chan. You're probably right, but...I don't want to lose my friends here that are important to me."

"Ah, Rin-kun..." she sounded disappointed. But who isn't disappointed by me nowadays?

"But once we're married," I began, excitedly, but then was struck by a pang of uncertainty; would I actually end up marrying her? Well, hell, if her saving my life from certain death TWICE in the last week didn't earn her the top spot in my marriage preference list, then I don't know what could! Thus convinced, I nodded to reassure my increasingly unhinged mind and continued my sentence: "Ah, once we're married, I'd love to come live in the God world with you guys!"

Sia made a kind of crow of victory, and her father laughed.

"So, I only have to survive for the time being until that happens," I said, bouncing on my butt like a two-year old. What can I say? I felt oddly happy.

"Well put, Rin-dono," Eustoma said, "And I couldn't help but notice that you keep looking at my Sia-chan's BREASTS! Don't they just driving you bananas?"

"FATHER!" Sia exclaimed. I averted my eyes as the room filled with a resounding clang. "Anyway, Rin-kun," I turned around at blushed at her ethereal prettiness as she leaned over and gazed at me with her expressive amber-yellow eyes (while ignoring Eustoma's twitching body on the ground). "Will you promise me you'll be more careful from now on? I can escort you to and from school, if you want!"

"Well...I don't think I really need an escort..."

"Oh really? Who was it that collapsed on our porch from blood loss out of their mutilated organs?"

"Okay, I'll give you that one. But what I was going to say was, weren't we already going to walk to school together from now on anyway?"

"Ooh, yes! I thought you'd just forgotten." Sia said with a lightly reddened face. She danced around the table and sat down next to me, which filled my bones with warning vibrations of dread from her proximity. "Rin-kun...thanks. So, are we really going to get married, after all?"

I breathed out to try and steel my nerves, shakily put my clumsy arm around her shoulders, then slowly looked up at her in the eyes. Yellow...and so pretty...how could I not marry this angelic idol, if she loved me?

"Sia-chan..." I murmured to her. My proximity to her very feminine body was carving a path of destruction into my nervous system. "W-well...I think I might still need a little more time...because, you know, marriage is...a pretty big change, even if you have saved me SO many times that I actually owe you my soul."

"I understand, Rin-kun, it's okay..." she breathed, and I felt my blood heat up with an elaborate fascination of her. "But, you're touching...me?"

"OH! I forgot to explain; I actually found out that I CAN touch girls fine, when it's me initiating the touch. It's only when they touch me out of their own will that I feel incredible pain." I gave a shaky smile, and was starting to crave touching her more...her proximity was impaling me and yet filling me with a new addiction that I'd never felt before.

"Really? That's great!" Sia said softly. "So...how did you find this out?"

"Well, Nerine-chan helped me discover it...I met her today. It was actually on the way back from seeing her that I was mugged." I'm getting to be some sort of chronic liar, I think. "I'd actually never even touched a girl before."

A look of disappointment blitzed across Sia's face, but she quickly wiped it off. "That Nerine-chan...she stole your first touch from me!" she said with a vivid smile, incredible-looking even in the midst of her apparent jealousy. "So are you sure I can't touch you?"

I shrugged. "Well, I guess it can't hurt to try." Wait. "Er...I guess that's probably a bad expression to use here, but you can give it a shot if you want."

"Okay." She gulped and propelled her dainty hand very gradually towards my chest. "Can I touch you...here, Rin-kun?"

"Sure."

With the most serious expression I'd ever seen her wear, Sia kept reaching closer and closer...reminding me of my activity earlier with Nerine-chan. Her smell (not her pheromones, but her natural scent) crept up to me as her body came even closer to me. My arm around her shoulders was kind of acting like a crutch that I could lean my fear on; it felt fine (actually, quite good, since she has extraordinarily sexy shoulders), and that realization gave me an anchor for my confidence.

Her fingers met my chest. The soothing mental state I had slipped into was mined away by an exploding spark of fiery agony from her touch. It blasted straight through my ribs into my heart.

"GAHH!" I screamed, and jolted back.

"Rin-kun, Rin-kun, Rin-kun! I'm SO sorry!" Sia moaned in regret-filled panic.

"No, it's alright, don't worry," I reassured her, patting her on the shoulder. "It just took me by surprise, that's all. Normally my senses are going crazy with dread by the time a girl touches me, so I'm usually prepared for it a little bit. But this time, I just went from super-comfortable to...um...not..."

"I didn't realize it'd hurt you so much, or I wouldn't have done it! I'm so sorry, Rin-kun," Sia told me with a pained look.

"Hey, it was worth a shot, anyway!" I very nervously considered chancing another touch at her; I'd always wanted to touch a girl's hair, and hers was very enticing, what with its scarlet, silky, bloodlike spray...it was almost hard to believe that it actually existed, it looked so dreamlike. So I gulped and shakily lifted my hands towards her divine hair...

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked quizzically. Although it probably wasn't becoming of me to do so, I screamed out loud and stood pencil-straight. My nerves had suddenly rushed back to me and I'd become sickly aware of how creepy I was acting.

"N-nothing. WELL, I'd better get going, then..."

"But Rin-kun, d-do you not want to stay here?"

"I appreciate the concern, Sia-chan, but I'm sure Kaede-chan is wondering where I am right now." Doubtful.

"Okay...well, stay safe! I'll meet you outside in the morning, alright?" Sia was looking at me with renewed concern. I wondered if she suspected something was wrong with Kaede as well.

"I will, I will, and...thanks, Sia-chan," I said warmly, bowing low to her. "I owe you every minute of my life from here on...TWICE over, now. I mean, the only reason I can live at ALL is because..."

"PSSH, I already told you, don't worry about it!" Sia waved me off, crossing her luscious legs. "I'll do ANYthing in my power for you, ANY time, no matter what happens in the future. Okay? You don't even have to thank me."

"Well..." I brushed the back of my hair awkwardly. If I couldn't thank her, then what was I supposed to do? "Um, alright then, Sia-chan...have a good sleep, okay?"

"You too, Rin-kun!"

* * *

As often happened of late, I walked back to the Fuyou household filled with regret. If only I was stronger...less pathetically afraid of GIRLS...then I could have just spent the night (and avoided the awkwardness of coming back home to THIS place). But that length of time right there, in and of itself, was pushing my limits of how much time spent in female company I could take without totally losing my head. I was definitely making progress in handling in my fear, but...I still hadn't increased my endurance for long-time exposure to women.

Sighing, I pushed open the door and walked back in. The first thing Kaede would want me to do would be mopping all my blood stains off the floor so Bark wouldn't see them in the morning.

Thus decided, I wearily filled my mop bucket and took to washing the entire floor of the ground level, cleansing it of my blood. All the while, an incredibly irritating soundtrack rained down from the level above: Kaede's sex screams and other associated animalistic noises.

I don't know whether she has Bark over for free genital plumbing sessions for the purpose of annoying me or not...but it sure as hell does. What I really DON'T need is a house filled with noises of my childhood friend's passionate screams of ecstasy while she's getting pounded, while I'm trying to sleep.

Having finished mopping, I stretched and thought about what to do next as Kaede began narrating their position-changing at a banshee-like octave. Kaede WOULD need breakfast in the morning, and probably Bark, too, so I figured I would need to do that at some point. I was very tired, though, so I thought I'd take a quick nap for a second.

I crept up the pitch-black stairs and Kaede's volume and clarity increased accordingly: "(hiss) AUH! (hiss) ooOOO! (hiss)-ah, Bark-kun! (hiss) AW, IT hurts, nngh, ohh...OHHH...ONGG...oh, m-my ASS, UAHG!" Lovely.

All this was met with a general sense of bloodthirsty fury from my end: I'm not sure why, but nothing at all that Kaede ever did pissed me off more than her exhibitionist sex nights. I can only feel ANGER, white-hot rage. I want to fucking take something hard and sharp and stab both of their naked bodies over and over and over and OVER until they'll never breathe again!

Fortunately, I'm slightly better at controlling such impulses than my rather uninhibited housemate.

"OH, y-you're so BIG! I can't fucking...AHHIGOD! It...(HISSSSS) AH! OH-oh-oh-OH-OH! Augh, MY...ASSSS! FUCK!"

I had arrived outside my own door, and to my yet-increasing rage, I realized that they had selected my room...MY ROOM!...to pursue their pleasure-questing. Those...fucking...ANIMALS! My limbs shook from anger, sweat beaded and soaked my bare (save for a robe) body, and heat covered my arms and head. What...the FUCK...did I do to deserve this from those...PRICKS! GAH!

Okay...okay...I just need to calm down...gotta go downstairs, take a little nap...

As Kaede let out another hellion scream that sounded like she was dying from a mixture of pain and insanity (Bark did nothing but keep on slapping himself into Kaede's ass at a very rapid rate), I redescended the stairs, sauntered over to the couch, and collapsed, staring intently at the ceiling.

I figured I was too angry to sleep. ESPECIALLY when Kaede was still screaming her twisted brain out.

I'm not a person who has ever really considered having sex...until today, I didn't really even realize I would ever even have the opportunity (now I can touch somewhat, however...)...but I had often rationalized that IF I were to have sex with a girl...whoever it may be...I would at least be treating it more sacredly than Bark seemed to. The way he just milked her unrelentingly for 12 straight hours...never slowing past the chattering speed of a machine gun...just made me think he didn't care about her at all.

I mean, I don't mean to say that I know what I'm talking about, since I'm new to this whole sex life thing, but I know that if I was going to have sex with, say, Sakura (first person that popped into my head, strangely), I would feel incredibly honored, of course, and, since I see women as being sacred, holier than anything else on the planet...so holy that I can't even get near them without detonating in the mind from anxiety...I would naturally savor every SINGLE movement I made with Sakura in bed. Of course, I could be over-thinking it, and passion might just take over when I reached that situation, but I'd like to think I would inject FAR more feeling into becoming intimate with a person as sacred as Sakura than what Bark shows to Kaede when he turret-fires her asshole unrelentingly like he's doing right now.

That. Fucking. Cocksucker. My skin crawled with angry dissatisfaction as I pictured them acting along to the filthy sounds they were spewing together.

I decided I ought to get up and do something productive, before I lost control of my anger and betrayed Kaede somehow (I would likely wind up killing one of them if I kept doing what I was doing then). Thus decided, I walked over to the stove and turned it on in order to start making breakfast.

* * *

Some time later, I had achieved what I thought to be a pretty impressive meal for one made at 3 AM. I was making some omelets as a last touch when, unexpectedly, Bark himself lumbered down from my room, carrying with him all the deathly smells of shit, old semen, and body odor from their activities. He was only wearing a pair of soggy boxers, which gave me the shivers to think about.

"Man, Rin-kun, what's up, bro? I'm here to, uh, recharge, if you get me, you know what I mean? HhhhhHHA! How's the world's luckiest piece-of-shit doing today? HhhhhHHA!" he blasted out of his rectangular mouth, ending with his odd delayed-laugh mannerism that never fails to annoy the hell out of me.

"I'm alright..." I lied, concentrating on the eggs.

"Hey you know, I'm not gonna lie to ya, brother, but, you know, I always figured you were some kind of gay fuck who just liked to take it in the ass, you know what I mean? HhhhhHHA! I mean, you know, that's what everyone thought, you know? But FUCK! You've got some mad fuckin' crazy skills, dog, getting' those two HOT pieces of ass Nerine-chan and Sia-chan! HhhhhHHA! BROTHER! You've scored like mad, man! I mean, like down in the history books score! HhhhhHHA!"

I nodded with a slightly amused smile, despite my hatred of the speaker.

"I mean, their ASSES are fucking right, you know what I mean?" My amusement left at this point in his crazed speech. "Like, FUCK! Those are some incredibly awesome butt-cheeks on those two! Like, PERFECT curves and shit! Man, you've just gotta be fucking them like a jackhammer CONSTANTLY up their fine-as-fuck asses, am I right? HhhhhHHA!"

I laughed, in veiled derision.

"Man, you alright, dog! You alright! And, SHIT, have you seen their titties? Man, fucking, that Nerine-chan chick, you just wanna take her sick-ass titties, and stick your dick up in them! Fucking shit! I mean, OH MY GOD, those titties! You just wanna stick your dick up IN them! HhhhhHHA! And Sia-chan, too, so fucking perky, dog, I mean, you just wanna stick your dick up IN them!"

"Yeah...I...I heard you the first two times," I said with artificially-injected levity. How DARE he talk about THEM that way...especially him, of all people. I was one brittle straw away from taking my saucepan and smacking him in the face with it (which probably would not have ended with me winning the ensuing struggle) when he leaned forward and looked DOWN my robe...for some reason.

"Man, I tell you what, you've got a really fuckin' nice-lookin' dick there, dog. Looks like it's developing healthily and shit. Ample amounts of fucking being done I'm sure, what with THOSE two pieces of ass that want your dick and all that. HhhhhHHA!"

"...ooooooookayyyyy?"

"Fuckin' shit, bro, I'm just jokin' bitch! I'm just pullin' your penis, dog! HhhhhHHA!" He slapped my ass for good measure; I felt thoroughly desecrated.

"Man, I tell you what; I've fucked many, many little girls up their assholes, but none have had such a fucking RIGHT-feeling asshole as Kaede-chan! HhhhhHHA! I'm not even joking, dog, that whore gots a whole FUCK of an ass on her! DAMN straight. I don't mean to brag, but uh..." he reached down his boxers and began to play with his genitals, a thought that made me want to vomit.

"Your Princess ho's have NOTHING on Kaede-chan, you know what I mean?" Something clicked in my mind; so Nerine was the other Princess that everyone talked about! That made a lot more sense to me, now. Bark continued, "I mean, I'd fuck their virgin cunt-asses any day, of course, but I'll fuck the shit out of Kaede-chan's banging ass myself a thousand times first, ya get me? Ya get me, DOG? HhhhhHHA!"

I feel sorry for this guy's family for having to stand his company at all. And anyone who has ever met him. HOW can Kaede possibly be interested in this sack of shit?

"Bark-kun, are you almost ready?" Kaede called down. I felt a strange sense of uncertain relief at her renewed presence.

"Hey babygirl, I'm just still getting' my batteries all firing on all cylinders again, you feel me?"

"Yeah, I feel you!" she responded, in a thickly sexual voice. Ick. "Maybe if you come back up with me, we can warm them up faster!" Her voice slithered sensually into a whisper.

"Well hey, why don't you come down here for a second? Me and Rin-kun are just shooting the shit, talking about man stuff." Oh gods save me...

"Alright! Sounds fun!" she said in her artificial, innocent voice that made me want to consider shooting myself in the head. "Let me just go put on some PJ's!"

"Fuckin' right!" Bark laughed. He turned to me. "Man, that Kaede-chan's a pretty fuckin' cool girl, isn't she? Not many girls are actually cool to talk with and shit, but she is, am I right? HhhhhHHA!"

"The breakfast...should be almost ready," I commented, making it look like I was concentrating really hard on it.

"I swear, man, what you cook all the time for?"

"Well, someone's gotta do it."

"But, I mean, your pride as a MAN's at stake, ya feel me?"

"Well...you know, the majority of chef's are actually men..."

"Ah, damn straight, you're right, dog! I forgot about that! HhhhhHHA! That's cool!" He turned to Kaede, who had slapped on some clothes that left extraordinarily little to the imagination. I gulped and averted my eyes, trying not to think about her in compromising ways. "Kaede-chan, man, Rin-kun's not that bad! I think he's a pretty tight motherfucker!"

"Oh really? I guess he's finally learned how to interact with his own gender without coming across as a woman." Ouch, what the hell, Kaede? I don't know what she was referring to, but I also figured she didn't really have much of a reason for mistreating me at any juncture.

"HhhhhHHA! I guess you're right, Kaede-chan. But, fuck me if you need to be good with guys if you can pick up chicks like Nerine-chan and Sia-chan." He nodded towards me in respect.

"What's for breakfast, Rin-kun?" Kaede, who had quite horrifyingly appeared directly next to me beside the stove in all of her sparsely-clad terror, asked in a patronizing voice.

"Nothing too fancy," I said, briskly looking up from her cleavage, which I didn't mean to look at in the first place... it was just so THERE, that it was hard not to... "I just cooked up some steamed rice, enough steamed salmon for the three of us, some miso soup with a really delicate touch of tofu..."

Bark guffawed. "You're such a fucking pansy, Rin-kun."

"...and eggs!" I shouted with pride in myself. I was determined to have faith in my own abilities, despite the presence of these two downers.

"Looks terrible," she muttered, going back to the table. "So...are you going to feed us or what?"

"Damn straight! We're hungry, bitch! HhhhhHHA!"

"Hang on just a second," I said, laying down plates and decking them out with a balanced share of all the dishes, proceeding to carry them over and set them out in a very savory-looking array, if I do say so myself.

Bark pile-drived some food in his mouth. "FUCK! This is the best fucking rice I've ever had! You might be a faggot, but you sure can cook, Rin-kun."

I bowed in appreciation. "Thank you." I was very glad that he'd eaten first; this way Kaede wouldn't have any choice but to go along with his statement, instead of labeling it "shit" immediately and throwing it out like a spoiled rich girl.

Sure enough, I noticed Kaede send Bark a piercing glare as she pissily began eating the completely satisfactory food. That settled, the three of us filled up in silence, and I afterwards allowed them to return to my room without saying anything that could come back to haunt me later. I thus returned to my couch and, now quite tired, was able to fall into a deep slave, despite Kaede's renewed screaming and the loud, rhythmic slaps that accompanied it.

* * *

"Rin-kun...Rin-kun..."

My sleepy haze began to part just slightly as my eyes fought to reopen. Where was I? I didn't seem to be in my room...

"Rin-kun..." I felt a hand lightly brush my arm.

"BLARRGHHH!" I screamed in alarm and jumped up in towards the ceiling as the contact activated every nerve in that arm.

"Relax," Kaede's voice scolded me. "It's just me!" I...don't really follow her reasoning on that one. "Bark-kun's in the shower right now...so, really fast, I need you to look straight ahead and close your eyes, okay?"

"A-alright," I said obediently and did as I was told.

"Good...good," she said in a comforting voice that made my heart beat faster. I felt a piece of some kind of fabric come across my mouth. I wiggled my lips a little bit to investigate; it was sandpaper! She had sandpaper up to my lips! This was NOT good!

"Okay, now I want you to say: 'boob.' Can you do that for me, Rin-kun?"

I felt really sad now, practically on the verge of crying. For some reason, I'd thought she might have even wanted to have a conversation with me or something. But I guess I had to do this, since I was stuck now. "Boob," I said in a muffled voice, and she immediately began scrubbing my lips with the sandpaper. The bleeding was instant. Searing pain soon followed.

Eyes wide open, I rolled my damaged lips inside my mouth and gave a muffled scream in pain. Kaede continued to sand my face with brutal intensity.

"You fucking cunt," Kaede cursed. "Didn't I tell you not to show your ugly face here tonight? What the fuck is wrong with you? You're the most disobedient...inbred...perverted little boy I've ever met! I HATE you," she continued her tirade. I didn't stop screaming the entire time. I could feel the multiple miniature grains rip every new laceration in my skin cells with every swipe; it was way too much to take.

She removed the sandpaper at last, and a stream of blood emptied out of my annihilated skin. "I went easy on you today, Rin-kun. You'd better be grateful."

"I am, Kaede-chan," I responded soullessly, using the bend of my arm to try and contain the emptying blood. "I'm very grateful."

"Go clean yourself up before Bark-kun sees you." I'd really like to know how.

I ran to the ground floor bathroom and began quickly treating the wounds with every first aid ointment I had access to. There was no doubt about it; it was going to look pretty bad, no matter what I did.

The worst part about it was my lips; they were completely gone, sliced off my face. They felt like they were still there, however, but all that was in their place was a constantly-repooling dearth of blood. I'd have to try and get Sia to help me...already...this really sucked.

It soon became clear that, no matter how much makeup or aloe vera I applied, I wasn't going to look anywhere close to normal for the day. People tend to notice when a person's missing their lips.

Thus decided, I geared up to make a run for it over to Sia's house so she could cure me. To that end, I grabbed an unused, black garbage bag from under the sink, tied it around my face like a bandit, and ran out the bathroom, nearly colliding with Bark.

"Fuck, man, you almost made me shit myself! Nice mask and shit, fucker! HhhhhHHA!"

"Sorry, Bark-kun, but I've really gotta get out of here. I'll see you at school..."

"Now hold up, man! Wait just a minute, dog! You know, listen...I was thinking...you know, Kaede-chan hates you like crazy. Like...FUCK, man! Did you know that?"

I chose not to answer that question, and just look at him lifelessly.

"I didn't find that out till last night, and I was all like, "Damn! Rin-kun's a pretty solid dog, you know what I'm sayin'?" And she was all like, "No, Rin-kun's an annoying little loser!" So I was thinkin', fucker, if me and you and her are gonna be friends and shit..." WHY does he want to be friends with me? "...we could walk to school together, wouldn't that be something? Fuck off, bitch! HhhhhHHA! Ohh man..." Bark had the unique ability to continuously fill what otherwise would have been pleasantly silent passages of time with completely meaningless filler-words. I'm pretty sure he doesn't realize that words are normally supposed to have meaning.

"Well man, I would," I began, "but I've already made plans to walk with Sia-chan and Nerine-chan, so, uh...I don't think I'll be able to..."

"Maaaan, all the better, motherfucker! If we get those two fine-ass freaks to be walking all upon our dicks, we're gonna be in business! HhhhhHHA! Am I right or am I right? What the fuck!"

I simply wanted to get away from this brainless gorilla, but I just sighed, told him, "I'll be right back," and made a run for the door so I could go see Sia.

It just so happened, naturally, that Nerine was waiting in front of our gate in her Verbena Academy uniform, looking even cuter than she had the night before. "Rin-kun! How are you doing this lovely morning? Did you get a good sleep?"

I trotted in place, smiling with my eyes at the unfortunately gorgeous bluenette. "Hi, Nerine-chan. Uh...not too good, and no. I've gotta make a quick run to Sia-chan's..."

"Okay, cool! Don't let me stop you!"

I made a small bow in gratful thanks.

"...and that's a cool mask, Rin-kun! You look like a ninja!" she grinned.

I laughed casually and maneuvered past her (hard to do without brushing her quite touchable body) to go see Sia.

Upon arrival at the gods' porch, I was about to knock when it abruptly swung open (I narrowly dodged it) to reveal a uniform-clad Sia, who squealed with surprise at my arrival. "RIN-KUN!...Sweet, why are you wearing a mask?"

I dropped to a kneel in front of her. "Sia-chan! Could you please heal my face? I promise to explain why later!"

"Oh, sure thing, Rin-kun! It's no problem at all." The comforting swirls of green energy that I now felt very well acquainted with wrapped familiarly around my entire face, and made it feel great!

I threw off my trash bag mask and got up with a huge smile. "Thanks, Sia-chan! You are...the BEST person ever born!"

She blushed and wiggled around in embarrassment.

"I'll be right back, okay? I've gotta run and grab my books, real fast."

"Okay!" she called as I sprinted away, moving past Nerine again in the process (this time accidentally pushing against her supple bosom).

"You seem really energetic today, Rin-kun!" Nerine chuckled.

"Weird, isn't it?" I laughed. "I'll be right back!" I continued to run and slammed into Kaede, knocking her on the lawn.

"What...the hell...is WRONG with you?" she growled softly through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry, Kaede-chan," I said, extending my hand. "Would you like some help up?"

She spat on my hand. I just smiled and wiped it off on my stomach, maneuvering past the brat and colliding with Bark.

"Yo, what's up, dog? Man, Verbena isn't that way!" he laughed, nodding towards our house.

"I know, man, I've just gotta get some books and clothes real fast. I'll be right back, alright, dog?" I laughed, easing into his groove.

"Bro, you pretty chill sometimes, fucker! Alright, suit yourself and shit! I always prefer running around ass-naked, myself."

"I'm sure you do," I laughed, and slipped by him.

In a record-breaking minute of preparation, I returned outside to meet my four awaiting walking companions. Sia was looking a little put out from everyone's presence, Kaede looked like she was on her last thread of sanity, Bark looked positively ecstatic to be in the company of Sia and Nerine (he was conspicuously checking them out without inhibition), and Nerine just smiled at me politely and waved.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone! Are you all ready?"

"Yep! Let's go!" Sia's sweet voice sang.

"You three can go ahead of us," Kaede said to me in an equally sweet voice, although her eyes didn't match her tone.

"HhhhhHHA! You're awesome, Kaede-chan!" Bark gave her a thumbs-up. I, however, was less excited.

Of course, being that I always bow to her demands, I was swift to take the lead of our five-person walking troupe.

Both Nerine and Sia were standing very close to me, on either side. They were talking to me, but their words got more and more muffled the more steps I took. Every time my foot touched the sidewalk, it seemed to speak one of their names, just to spite me: "Sia." "Nerine." "Sia." Nerine." I couldn't get their terrifying presence out of my head, and thus my heart began beating obnoxiously out of control.

I soon began having trouble breathing, and my skin clammed up. Sure, I liked, even loved, both girls; but both at once, and at this proximity, was nothing short of suffocating in combination with my condition.

Short of breath and tasting the familiar tang of vomit in my throat, I risked a look back at the couple behind us, and sure enough, Kaede had taken to glaring at me like a serial killer. Thanks for the support, Kaede-chan.

"Rin-kun, are you alright? You look kind of sick!" I managed to hear Nerine say.

I turned and gave her a damaged smile. "I...don't think so, Nerine-chan. I'm feeling pretty queasy for some reason." I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was her unbelievably beautiful presence that was giving me trouble.

"Oh, Rin-kun..." Sia said. "Would it help if you held our hands? You said that steadied you last night, right?" True enough, Sia-chan...but I don't know if it would help in this particular situation. The thought of being trapped in their presence without ease of escape might actually make things worse.

"Last...night?" Nerine asked curiously.

"Well...alright, let's give it a try," I said in a soft voice. I prayed that Kaede would somehow not notice as I lowered my hands and clumsily wrapped my clammy fingers around the princesses' palms. I exhaled deeply and tried to follow their advice of gathering strength from the contact, and for a moment it seemed to work...

...until Sakura suddenly ran up to us (now, of all times) and began bowing several times in quick succession. "Rin-kun, please forgive me from yesterday! I didn't mean to pry into your personal life, and I REALLY, really don't want to push you away! I'm so, so, so, so..."

"S-Sakura-chan! It's good to see you!" This was only partially a lie on my part. " A-a-and, um, it's okay, don't worry about it, I'm just really bad at ending conversations..." I trailed off when she looked up and jumped at the sight of Sia and Nerine's hands in mine. I promptly removed my hands from their palms and instantly felt my mental suffering return with renewed vigor.

"Wh...who are they?" she asked quite softly, her delicate facial features brimming with panic.

"Ah, they're..." I began, quietly.

"HOT DAMN, Rin-kun, who's that fine-ass bitch?" I heard Bark burst out.

"I'm Sia, princess of the gods!" Sia yelled, pumping her tiny fist in the air enthusiastically.

"And I'm Nerine...and, I'm the princess of the demons," Nerine said demurely. "Who are you?" I felt the pair of women next to me look at me questioningly, silently asking why I hadn't mentioned this other person.

"I'm Sakura Yue, Rin-kun's childhood friend...and I hope...we're friends still?" she said tentatively, ramming her fingers together in nervousness.

My head began to spin with even more paranoia; I felt like I was slowly being crushed by forces out of my control.

"(sigh) Of course we're still friends, Sakura-chan..." I said tragically.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to her, Rin-kun?" Bark said eagerly.

"Well, Rin-kun and I are getting married!" Sia announced. Nerine and I threw her a scolding look. "What? Isn't that what we agreed..."

"Ah...I...I had no idea you were engaged, Rin-kun!" Sakura looked downright horrified now. "I'm really, really, really, really sorry for how I was acting before!"

I felt bad for her, but a lot of my concentration at the moment was going towards holding in my vomit.

"He's not exactly 'engaged' yet...isn't that right?" Nerine asked me softly, her face gentle and addictive-looking.

"I...I have no idea, Nerine-chan," I ground out. Kaede giggled annoyingly from behind us.

"Because, I have chosen Rin-kun to be my husband as well, you see," Nerine explained calmly to Sakura, whose face grew yet more white.

"Ah, I...I..." Sakura stuttered, blinking a lot.

I threw up just a little in my mouth from my fried nerves. We had to get going. This distorted exposure to the four girls was killing me. "Sakura-chan, we're on our way to school...if you want, we can meet later or something..."

"Well, I kind of wanted to walk with you to school, just to keep you company...but I guess you're okay on that at the moment." She looked behind us at the other two. "Oh, good morning, Kaede-chan! I didn't see you there!" Sakura smiled shakily up at me. "Is...is it okay if I walk with Kaede-chan?"

I laughed, despite my boiling skin and running nose. "You don't have to ask my permission! Go on!"

She slipped behind us, and we continued our voyage across town. I suddenly realized something with a sinking feeling; I'd never bothered to tell my other friends that I was having other walking plans today! They'd probably join up with us at the next corner...

My prediction turned out to be right: Mayumi, Matsuri, and Itsuki waved excitedly at me at first, but then seemed alarmed at my bizarre caravan.

"Hey guys," I grumbled, feeling a little bad at potentially betraying my friends...and also because of my declining physical and mental health.

"Oh, who are these people, Rin-kun?" Nerine said in a far-too-lovely voice to adequately describe.

"I...was about to ask the same thing," Matsuri laughed with closed eyes.

"RIN-KUN! What the hell!" Itsuki guffawed. "In like one weekend you went from a complete nobody loser to a very big somebody!" He slided over to Sia and Nerine. "And I must say, I very much approve of your new company! Very delectable indeed."

"Stop checking them out, Itsuki-kun," I growled warningly. My emotions, insecurities, and fears were exploding uncontrollably at the moment.

"Agreed. Stop being yourself, Itsuki-kun," Mayumi said, folding her hands over her skirt. "Ah, Rin-kun...maybe the best thing to do would be for you to introduce everyone here to each other..just so we're all on the same page!"

"What? Why me?" I choked.

"Because you're the only person who knows everybody."

I sighed, seriously wondering whether I could get through this without vomiting and/or pissing myself. "Okay..." I took a step back and leaned on the brick wall. "First, these two, uh...REALLY pretty girls are Nerine-chan and Sia-chan...and, um...they want to marry me." Now THAT was awkward to say. I blushed and forced down another bile-filled burp as I continued, "The people in front, here, are my closest friends Mayumi-chan, Matsuri-chan..."

"...-kun, please. Matsuri-kun," she commented darkly, looking a little peeved at the situation.

"R-right...Matsuri-kun, then. And this is Itsuki-kun..."

"HEY!" He announced to the princesses. "I'm single, beautiful, and amazing! Heh...if you want some of this (gesturing down his abdomen) slab of awesome...just shout out! I'm here for y'all!"

"...Moving on, in the back, there, are Kaede-chan and Sakura-chan, who are my childhood friends (Sakura waved enthusiastically, while Kaede just stared down the street like she'd lost interest), and Bark-kun...is, um...Kaede-chan's boyfriend."

"Man, I'm so excited to meet all you women! Every one of y'all looks fuckin' alright, you know? HhhhhHHA! " he laughed. "Except you, Mayumi-chan...I mean, did God forget to slap some titties on you or what? Augh!"

Kaede swung her purse, hard, at Bark's face, sending him reeling backwards. "Don't worry, Mayumi-chan, I've got your back," she said winking at her. Mayumi gave a polite head bow in appreciation.

"We should probably get going, for school and all," I sighed, having recuperated my nerves a little bit.

The group of eight agreed, and we thus trekked the rest of the way to school. I tried to concentrate purely on breathing in...and breathing out...breathing in...breathing out...

"Rin-kun, I did your homework for you! Would you like to copy it before class?" Nerine asked sweetly.

...breathing in...

"Rin-kun, I decided to join the Cooking club with you so we can spend more time together!" Sia proclaimed.

...breathing out...Matsuri and Mayumi kept slipping me hurt looks...

"I'm starting a manga, to further my dream of becoming a mangaka, Rin-kun!" Itsuki announced. "It's about two monkeys named Goofypoo and Mr. Trendypants who embark on a journey across Antarctica to find love!"

…breathing in...

"Rin-kun, I'm actually still not enrolled in your school," Sakura whispered from behind me. "But would you like to meet me by the fountain after you get out today?"

...breathing out...my vision started to shake discordantly...I don't think the oxygen was getting to my brain...

"Sorry for hitting you before, Bark-kun. Are you alright?" Kaede purred.

Suddenly, the oxygen flow abruptly stopped. I had to get OUT of that group of people. Gasping for breath, I darted as swiftly as I could down the road to get to school, ignoring their cries of protest.

I didn't care anymore...why couldn't they just leave me alone! I didn't want anyone in my life but myself. Girls...girls...SO many freaking girls! I can't stand it. I feel like I'm going crazy.

I darted into the locker aisles and leaned on the cool steel, breathing desperately, trying to recollect my sanity. So many women...in so close of proximity...dear god...why can't I just be allowed to live alone, throwing every desire I have away for Kaede's sake? That's all I've ever wanted to do, and now I can't even do that anymore without everyone crowding me and making me want to vomit.

"Rin-kun..." I heard a feminine voice say softly. I screamed and leaped back a good five feet; but realized it was just Mayumi and Matsuri.

"Oh, it's you guys!" I said, laughing in a manner befitting a lunatic. Maybe I am one. I'm so SICK of people being SO NICE TO ME!

"Are you alright?" Matsuri said with deep concern.

"No. No, I'm not. I think I'm losing it..." I said with rapidly increasing anger. I heaved a sigh to try and maintain my control. "Why do you care?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mayumi demanded. "We're your friends, aren't we? And something's obviously bothering you."

"Alright, alright, I give." I stalked over to them, and saw them recoil slightly in alarm. I smiled gently and patted them both on the shoulder. "Look...there's something wrong with me, and there has been for a long time. I hadn't told anyone about it before yesterday though, because...well, I don't know why exactly...I was just ashamed, I guess..."

"What's the problem? Are you scared of crowds?" Mayumi asked in a gentler voice than before.

"Are you gay?" Matsuri inquired.

"Heh,no, I'm just scared of..." my eyes widened as I saw the princesses walk in and look up at me with their uncannily pretty eyes.

"...girls?" Matsuri guessed.

"Yep," I said shortly, scooting back into the far side of the lockers. "But I don't find you two scary, you know, because I just think of you as friends."

"So...it's something beside them just being girls, then, that scares you, right?" Mayumi mused.

"Um, m-maybe? I don't know, you're the only two who don't affect me, so I don't know how true that is."

Sia and Nerine walked up to us, and I accidentally let a hiss escape my teeth, which I was quickly ashamed of.

"I-is he alright?" Sia asked Mayumi.

I didn't stick around long enough to hear her response; I darted away to the bathroom to puke my brains out.

* * *

I felt guilty the rest of the class day, but I felt even more sick as time went on in the girls' company. Their proximity assaulted my mental composure like an onslaught of spears, and I was constantly crossing my legs to try and contain my urine.

I could feel their eyes on me. They were, like, magnetized to me. I hate all this fucking attention. It makes me want to take this pencil and jab it through my good eye.

My life was falling apart.

Itsuki kept trying to talk to me during class about his manga and how hot Sia is, but I learned my lesson well enough from last time and remained looking straight ahead, past our teacher. Because looking at her makes me very nervous.

When the day finally ended, I was swift to gather up everything and wordlessly weave my way out of the fast-encroaching mob of my friends. I felt bad...but I also felt much more sick, and that was the overriding sensation. I can't stand their company anymore.

I'm sorry, everyone.

All I want is to do live alone with Kaede...that's all I've ever wanted.

Grudgingly, I went to Cooking Club, followed by Sia, who wouldn't freaking stop looking at me with a horrible look of guilt, concern, and anxiety that somehow made her look even more precious. Which I didn't know was possible.

I did say, "Hi," but that was all I could get out before quickly averting my head and staring at the stove top. It was genderless, something I was familiar with, and WOULDN'T stare back at me. I could count on that.

"Rin-kun, are you okay? You look pretty under-the-weather," Kareha said, materializing directly in front of me. Despite her acting caring at the moment, I couldn't contain my rising panic and gave into my instinct; which was to very conspicuously cover my head with my hands protectively and make a sound like an alarmed cat.

"He's been like this all day," Sia said gravely. "It's like his soul's left his body or something."

"I'm here..." I said very meekly from within my hands.

"I know, Rin-kun. It was just a metaphor. And I love you, no matter how you're acting any day."

I shakily lowered my hands, and smiled appreciatively, despite myself. "Thanks, future wife."

"Oh, MY, MY, MY!" Kareha climaxed, beginning to radiate in her odd, self-paralyzing mannerism.

I tried to beat back my fear, but it wasn't leaving fast; in the entire club of twelve members, I was the only one who was not a ridiculously beautiful girl. Why couldn't more people in my school be as ugly as me? This was so retarded!

Regardless, I managed to mentally devote myself to continue controlling my urges to puke, pee (despite the fact that I'd just used the restroom a minute ago), and run screaming out of the room and halfheartedly prepare the food designated by Asa.

Normally Asa likes to come over to my station often and give me lots of helpful pointers. Today, however, she seemed to go out of her way to avoid me. Apparently she was mad at me, but I was sure it was some sort of misunderstanding...regardless, today I was nowhere close to being in the mood to converse with her anyway.

I was ecstatic when club ended. Without waiting for Asa or Kareha to come and evaluate my dish, I scooped my abysmal culinary creation safely into the trash and darted out of the room, trying to ignore everyone's ever-questioning eyes following me as I went.

I'm broken...I'm as good as dead...I don't want to see ANY of them ever again! FUCK! How did my life come to this point, anyway!

I turned my mind off and ran desperately away from the school. My fear was too much to handle anymore...it broke free of my control and was now viscerally attacking me. I'd thought I was getting better, too...

* * *

After about ten minutes of sprinting without paying attention where I was headed, I realized I had stopped for breath in front of the huge, abandoned cathedral Blanc Hotre. It was always dark and foreboding before, but ever since services stopped being held there, it had gained a haunted quality as well.

Despite that, I'd learned to appreciate in for what it could offer me in times like this: a place to hide myself, where I could lock myself in the upper floors of the tower and stare lifelessly at the walls, starving myself until I couldn't stand the pain anymore.

Now was definitely one of those times. I was far overdue for a restoration of my soul.

I closed the door behind me and soaked in the familiar absolute silence and solitude...it was incredibly soothing to my depraved mind.

Standing in the pitch-black ground floor wasn't enough, however. My needs today called for the full treatment of solitude. To that end, I dashed to the far side of the worship room, but paused; was there a noise? I waited for a moment, but heard nothing...it must have just been the squeaking of my tennis shoes.

I soullessly reached the tower and began ascending the spiral staircase to the upper levels of the church. I stopped; there was definitely SOMEthing here.

I hissed as the sound came again...it sounded like a disembodied girl's voice. This hadn't happened before. Why was there someone here? I need to restore my sanity, damn it! IS THERE NOWHERE I CAN GO?

I continued to stand in place in the staircase, unsure of what to do. Maybe I should try to help out the person?

"...Rin..."

Wait; did the voice just say my name?

"Rin...Rin..."

It did, didn't it. I gulped. Maybe I was beyond the point of no return. Tears streaming out of my eyes, I turned and bolted back down the stairs...which was a bad idea, because I tripped and careened down the entire rest of the spiral staircase.

"FUCK!" I screamed in light of my surplus of fear and pain. Blood seeped out of various abrasions the rough stone steps had made in my body. Why does life have to hurt so much? I don't want to live...anymore...

I roared and darted outside, trying to piece together a course of action; nothing seemed like a good idea at the moment. "WHAT DO I DO?"

"Rin..." I heard the voice again. Something compelled me to look up, and I was shocked to see a little girl standing on the roof of the church.

"H-how did you get up there?" I called up to her, despite my various mental and physical afflictions. "It's dangerous...you need to come down right now!"

"...Are you Rin?" the lavender-haired girl asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah, my name's Rin Tsuchimi. Who are you?" I shook my head, thinking better of it. "Wait, no, never mind. You need to get down from there! Then I can help you find your parents, if you want!"

"Rin!" she sang softly and dove directly off the four-story high building.

"GRAAAHHH!" I screamed in alarm and ran under her careening body to try and catch her, ignoring my mental unease at the moment. "One...TWO!" I timed it, grasping her tightly in my arms, hissing from the pain of her contact.

"Rin...I've been looking for you..." The girl spoke in a robotic tone, but her eyes shone with lucid happiness and emotion.

I took care to set her down gently, in order to get her painful-to-touch body out of my hands. I looked at her face as I knelt, finding it soothing to look at somehow, when she suddenly tilted her head and leaned forward, kissing me full on the lips.

**A/N: To be continued! =) Please return for the (hopefully soon-in-coming) next installment of Moonbite. R&R, thanks!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the incredibly long break, all who are interested in this story. I'm back, though, with the longest (and hopefully best) update yet. Please enjoy the continuation of Moonbite.**

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 6**

Just when I'd thought my life couldn't get any more pathetically chaotic. What the hell is a little girl I've never seen before doing jumping off a tall building, calling me by my name, and then spontaneously kissing me?

I mean, seriously!

My freshly-repaired lips (owing to Kaede's arts and crafts session this morning) seared with a bolt of pain at the contact with the insufferably cute girl, a realization that sent me spewing backwards while making demented noises.

"Alright, listen…" I began, looking intently at my attacker…but the sheer, cool intensity of her gaze stopped my tongue from moving completely. Her periwinkle hair was parted into elaborate pigtails, her face seemed sculpted and delicate, and for some strange reason, she was only wearing a loose hospital gown.

Gods, listen to me. What would Kaede say?

The imaginary Kaede in my head said, "Oh, Rin-kun, I'm glad I ran into you! The yard trimmer would really like to get reacquainted with your nutsack. Isn't that just crazy? Let me just give you a hand with your fucking SHIT fly, you (senseless screaming, etc…)"

"How right you are, Kaede-chan," I replied. I'd been apart from Kaede far longer than was safe for her delicate temperament. I needed to get back soon. It didn't matter that I'd screwed over everyone else who's been expecting ridiculous things out of me. Even if I DID owe them one…there was just no helping it. I'm in no condition to be around beautiful girls for quite a while. Kaede will accept me with her judgment, just as she always does…torture me accordingly, and demand my service. She must stay alive, and I'm the only one that can help her. That is my mission, my calling…I have no choice but to render myself ignorant of everything, everyone else. Nothing matters at all, anymore, especially some 12-year-old-looking chick that's haunting me.

"Look, I'm sorry, whoever you are, but I have to get going, so…I'll be seeing ya!" I told the youth, swirling around and walking towards home.

"…Primula." I heard the girl say.

"Um…what?" I responded, having no idea what she was talking about.

"…my name…Primula."

What makes her think I care?

"That's a pretty name," I said to fill the empty air. "I, uh…I guess you already know my name, huh." A thought struck me then; it really wasn't good, even for a mentally dilapidated individual like me, to simply leave a beautiful, helpless girl alone in the middle of the city. Argh. I'm way too nice.

I looked up to offer to help her find her parents, but she shocked me by sidling up to me and wrapping her arms firmly around my leg.

OwOwOwOw…OW! That was WAY too close to my crotch for my liking, and it felt like my skin was burning off through my clothes from her touch. "Please don't…(hiss)…ah, it hurts, I…"

"I love you, Rin," She said, smiling slightly and snuggling with my thigh. Hooray. Another person to disappoint. I just love being an unintentional ass to everyone.

I tried to pry her fingers off me, but she latched back on like there were rubber bands connecting her palms to my upper thigh. My testicles retreated back into their holes, suffering the ongoing pain.

I had to get home, I realized amidst the strangling feeling worming its way around my neck. Kaede would know what to do, I hoped…possibly…I mean, who knows? Maybe she wouldn't try to kill this Primula parasite I seem to have acquired.

Thus encouraged by my neurotic logic, I began dragging my ever-cuddling leg luggage across town to return home, drawing wide-eyed stares from everyone I passed. As for myself, I was biting my lip to keep myself from either punching a hole in this girl's face or pissing myself uncontrollably, paying a ridiculous lack of care of everyone's incriminating look.

"Rin…" Primula murmured, soaked with evident satisfaction (interestingly, I detected no whiff of arousal from her). "So THIS is love…"

"I'm pretty sure it's not, Primula-chan," I said, pulling her along to the fountain in the center of the city.

"But I feel…happy…I found you…" the demon girl said mysteriously.

'Hm, the fountain! That reminds me, Sakura wanted to meet me here today. Oh, there she is. AHH!' I thought, noticing my childhood friend standing in front of us in all her ethereal beauty. I urinated a little on accident, much to my horrified dismay.

"Rin-kun, you came!" she cheered, gushing with enthusiasm. I merely clenched my teeth and swiveled my hips to hide the dark spot. Poor Sakura, poor me…poor everyone for having the misfortune of being born ever. "I was just waiting here on the off-chance that you would! Oh; w-why are you so bloody?"

"H-h-h-h-h…" I sighed, clenching my thighs together in desperation, and certainly not paying attention to a word she said. "H-Hi there, Sakura-chan."

"Wet," Primula commented, kneading my thigh. This had the unbearable effect of hooks puncturing my skin and raking deep gashes in my muscles.

"Who's this cute girl?" Sakura asked brightly, coming over and smiling gorgeously (how dare her!).

I panted and looked down at my new suitor. "Umm…this is Primula, from what she told me. Primula-chan, this is Sakura."

Primula merely glared at her.

"Aww, I wish I was that pretty when I was her age," Sakura said, further wasting my precious time I could be spending eating wads of arsenic.

"You were, trust me." I assured her truthfully, and Sakura looked simultaneously excited and withdrawn as a result. She's a truly remarkably beautiful creature, unfortunately. If she was butt-ugly, I could probably stand to be in her presence. "And you're even prettier now," I added unenthusiastically, which cued her pheromone scent to begin accumulating in our vicinity.

"Rin and me are in love." Primula stated. I about had an aneurism from that one.

"UH, no, that is NOT true at this time," I quickly responded, proceeding to intently whisper to Sakura, "She WON'T let go, I'm trying to get away from her."

"Oh, okay, I understand now. I was wondering why your fiancées would allow you to have such a young mistress," Sakura said, breaking eye contact and peering at the water.

"Yup," was my eloquent response. "Could you please help?"

"Well, what do you intend to do? She looks pretty attached to you." Oh, really?

I made an oblivious grunt. "My brain…is BROKEN, okay? I really, really, really need your help."

Sakura stooped down on the heels of her feet in front of Primula (I quickly looked away to avoid viewing the plentiful cleavage that was revealed accordingly) and asked her, "So, do you know where your parents are?"

I felt Primula shake her head. "I don't have any."

"No parents? Are you sure?" Sakura's voice sounded so cute that I wanted to squeeze her. "Rin-kun…why is there a dark spot on your pants?"

"I spilled something in Cooking Club," I hurriedly lied with an unfortunately broken voice.

"Oh okay, never mind." She got back up and looked at me with her shimmering teal eyes. "So…can I hold onto your other one, then?"

"WHAT?" I shouted, a little more pee dribbling out despite my tightly-clenched muscles.

"I'm just kidding!" she snickered, going back to looking thoughtful momentarily. "Well, I wonder what she wants to do, then."

"It doesn't matter…" Primula said, pressing her…ENTIRE. damned. body… firmly up against me. I gritted my teeth and bore it. "As long as I'm with Rin-kun, I'm satisfied."

"And I'm the exact opposite," I remarked shortly.

"Rin-kun, be nice!" Sakura scolded me. "She's clearly mentally retarded."

"…and you're telling _me_ to be nice?"

"Well, I think the best thing for us to do is go somewhere so we can figure out what to do."

"Fantastic. Please…please…get her off me, okay?" I pleaded.

"Oh, be a man," Sakura admonished me, patting me twice on the shoulder, an action that felt like two secure smashes with a sledgehammer. I sneered at that. If only she knew what I went through all day, every day.

After Sakura managed to peel Primula away, we sauntered to the nearby café, where Kareha worked. I had a feeling this choice of location was somewhat influenced by Sakura's desire to go on a date from earlier today; perhaps she was smart enough to realize that this was the closest she was going to get. Not that I had anything (at all) against going on a date with her, of course. I mean, if there's anyone who I'd kill myself on command for, it'd be her. Maybe even more so than for Kaede…but then there's Sia, who I owe my life to like four times over now…DAMN it, when did decision making get so impossible? I love Sakura, right? Right. Definitely Sia, too, and I'd really like to say I love Nerine as well, but I think my brain is quite close to exploding any second now.

Sakura's voice jarred me from my obtuse thoughts. "Then again…most guys would be quite stimulated by an underage girl hugging them for that long."

I sputtered my blueberry lemon smoothie out all over the table. "WHAT did you just…"

"Well, right? Aren't most guys total pedobears on the inside?"

"…pedobears…" I said, giving my old friend a suspicious look. I suddenly felt a bubbling sense of protection concerning Primula, despite my better judgment.

"Alright, well, let's hear it. What age of girls do you prefer?"

"Prefer for what?" Primula asked in confusion.

"Don't worry about it," I said in an aside to Primula, who stared blankly in response, a technique she seemed to have down pat. "That's easy," I then responded to Sakura. "Whatever my age is at the time. Who doesn't?"

"O-okay," Sakura continued with a blush. "Let's ask someone else, then. Hey you!" She poked a person who was walking by our table at the moment…a person who unfortunately happened to be Itsuki.

"Yes? What can I do you for?" he probed, leaning back and sticking out his pelvis like a douche.

"What age of girls do you like the best?" Sakura asked sweetly, despite my violent body language encouraging her not to do so.

"WELLLLL let me tell ya," Itsuki began, spilling into the seat and draping his lanky arm around my innocent date. I was heartily pissed. "This just so happens to be one of my favorite topics. I believe that every female on this great, green Earth, whether under rock, atop cloud, or on the moon, is someone gorgeous, precious, and culpable in their own sweet, fascinating way. And to that end, I make it my mission to see to it that every such female achieves the happiness that they deserve." Sakura looked quite impressed, which continued to grind my gears. Everything seemed to be at a much hotter temperature all of a sudden.

I applauded sarcastically. "That was just about the most eloquent piece of total bullshit I've ever heard."

"But it WORKS!" Itsuki assured me. "So, what's your name, forsaken Lilith of my heart?" he continued to Sakura.

"Umm, we already met this morning!" she smiled in joviality, her voice sounding like heavenly bells chiming. I swear, if Sakura actually starts to like him, I will explode.

"The moon isn't on the earth…" Primula commented quietly to the table at large. A valid point, little sister.

Itsuki just about fell over when he saw her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA, whoa, whoa, whoa! Who's THIS?"

I took a prolonged time drinking from my smoothie. "Her name is Primula. We don't know where she came from or what she wants."

"I think I'm in love!" he said, his eyes widening to the size of his glasses frames. Needless to say, this prompted Sakura to give him a look of disgust and me an 'I-told-you-so' look. I just shrugged and continued to try and maintain control of my rogue bladder.

"Did someone say 'Primula'?" I heard Kareha's ever-bubbly voice ring, and the next thing I knew, she was at the table.

"Yup, that's this girl's name," Sakura said, pointing briefly at the girl seated next me.

"Holy SH-" Kareha cut herself off, and then leaned over, looking at Primula very seriously. "Are you really THE Primula?"

Primula didn't react but for drinking her milkshake.

"What's going on, Kareha-sempai? Is something wrong?" I asked gently.

Our waitress looked around furtively, and then whispered, "Come with me to a more private place."

"Yes, please." Itsuki said, nodding with approval.

"I'm sorry; I just meant Rin-kun and the two girls, not you…oh, wait…" Kareha looked at us thoughtfully.

"But I want to come with you in all your private places, Kareha-senpai!" Itsuki quickly rattled off. I slapped my forehead while Sakura looked shocked.

"Is…is this…a double date?" Kareha climaxed, going into glowing mode and shuffling around ecstatically.

"Nope," I said.

"Not even close," Sakura muttered.

"YES IT IS!" Itsuki sang, once more wrapping his sinewy arm around Sakura.

"…please leave," Sakura told him, glaring, while Kareha continued to be stuck in place and Primula looked between them with vague curiosity.

"No. We're in the middle of a date, remember?" Itsuki said using nothing relatively approaching logic. "So, when are we gonna go, Kareha-sempai?"

"Oh, right this way, please!" she returned to normal, leading the four of us into a back room. On the way, I felt someone looking at me and peered to my right. Naturally, Kaede was there, her blue eyes seeming to darken the air around her as she stared soullessly at me.

"What is it, Rin?" Primula asked, surprising me with her proximity.

"Go on, Primula, follow the rest of them, I'll be right there."

Primula only stood and peered at me with her fascinating, empty eyes. I shrugged, figuring that that was good enough, and stepped away to pay my housemate a visit.

As I approached, her two lapdogs Daisy and Cin peered up at me as well; Daisy's magenta eyes were overflowing with elitist disdain, while Cin looked a bit apprehensive for some reason. I didn't care at all.

"Kaede-chan, you know normally I wouldn't bother you…" I began, taking pains to prepare my soul for the lampooning that I knew would soon follow.

"I don't know you," she laughed, smirking at her friends who giggled approvingly.

"But I think I'm about to hear something from Kareha that could have impact on you as well." I tried my best to eradicate any whine in my voice.

Kaede rolled her eyes and sneered. "Don't talk to me in public, dog."

Cin spoke up. "Rin-kun, we don't let faggots like you ruin our meals with their disgusting visual appearance."

I swallowed and widened my eyes in frustration. "Kaede, I found a girl…"

"Did you rape her or just molest her?"

"…and I think we may end up having to take care of her for a while."

"So you can continue doing sick, twisted things to her? Nooo, don't think so." Kaede reasoned, looking up at me with a smile of superiority.

"That's why I wanted you to come listen, I think this is pretty important," I lowered my voice to a hush.

"Why are you still here, you ugly shithead?" Daisy asked me innocently.

"She's right, why the fuck are you talking to me anyway?" Kaede smirked. "You are so PATHETIC, I could cry." She stood up, and the air around us seemed to darken noticeably as her face twisted into a broad grin. "I don't know what I was thinking when I made you my friend. A rotten apple like you will always remain a rotten apple."

"Oh, that was well put, Kaede-chan!" Cin supported her.

"Don't even worry about it, Kaede-chan can't be anything BUT awesome," Daisy followed up for good measure.

I held myself back from insulting her back, and walked back to Primula, ignoring the snickering from the girls about the shape of my ass. She was still standing in place where I left her, expression unreadable as usual.

"Who are they?" she asked quietly.

I sighed. "No one."

"Are they your enemies?"

"That's…complicated," I hesitated.

She seemed to look through my eyes. "I'll protect you from them if they're mean to you."

I smiled and patted her on the shoulder. What would she be able to do? Her bones felt so brittle… "It's okay; they're all talk and no bite. Don't worry about it."

"…okay."

With that we proceeded to the door labeled "Employees Only." I swung it open, fearful of seeing Itsuki trying to have his way with one of the girls or Sakura having mortally injured him in some way.

I was, thus, mildly relieved when the first thing I heard was, "…monkeys on a journey for love in Antarctica doing it for you or what? I mean, it's my vision, and my artistic statement and all, but…you know? Recently I just am having trouble piecing this epic quest of awesomeness together."

"Huh…" Sakura thought, clutching the (sexy) frills of her really clingy shirt. "I don't know if monkeys are something people can really identify with as much as like…seaslugs, or something like that. I feel like that's a lot fresher, really raking out new artistic material."

"Wait, WHAT?" I couldn't help but exclaim, closing the door behind Primula. I didn't know Sakura was fluent in Idiot-speak as well.

"Quiet, Rin-kun, we, we, we're talking, you know what I mean?" Itsuki said, lost in thought. "Now, what I was going for, Sakura-chan, is that THIS quest, right, I mean, right HERE…right?...it's actually core to the actual development and evolution of what the human condition really is, right? I mean, so, I think it's fitting that, being that we, as people, are stuck in this bittersweet carousel of love, that our ancestor, you know, the monkey, right? That HE'S the one that trailblazes that tragic cycle for all of us to experience, you know what I'm saying?"

"Oh wow, I had no idea you were so smart!" Sakura spoke with a slight swoon in her voice. I felt jealousy rearing up inside of me, but tried to give Itsuki the benefit of the doubt; we are friends (I think), after all.

"You two are so great for each other," Kareha squealed, which did wonders for my anger management.

"Let me get this straight, Itsuki-kun…" I sighed, patting Primula on the head absentmindedly, "Are these two monkeys the same ones from before? Goofypoo and Mr. Trendypants?"

"Actually, these two are named Baby Turtleface and Jehosaphat."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but could I have your attention for a moment?" Kareha asked, excitedly folding her palms together. Itsuki looked a little put out.

"I…guess?" I said, slightly interested to see if she had anything intelligent to say, ever.

"Alright, well my dad is a genetic scientist, who actually works in the Demons' World, alongside several, several others on this huge, top-secret project that absolutely no one is ever supposed to hear about."

"Well, if it's so secret, maybe we'd better not listen," Sakura commented.

"You're already swimming in it, so you might as well know," Kareha said, mopping the sweat off her forehead. She lifted her finger to Primula, who is very cute, although it slightly sickens me to admit it. "Primula here is actually an escaped, top-secret experiment that my dad worked on."

"Say what?" Itsuki and I exclaimed in unison.

"No way…they experimented on a little girl?" Sakura spoke as she looked back to Primula.

"Yes, although Primula isn't actually a real person."

"You mean she's a robot?" I asked, still not really buying it.

"You mean she's a lollipop?" Itsuki asked, mocking my exact intonation.

"Alright, I don't know too much about it," Kareha continued, evidently ignoring our outbursts, "But I think Primula was totally created from scratch out of genes for a project called Yggdrasil. Please trust me when I tell you that NO ONE knows about this. The demons and gods both have very, VERY powerful technology powered by our mutual magic for genetic research and stuff like that." She continued to stare at Primula. "So, do you know anything about any of this, Primula-chan?"

Primula slowly wrapped her arms around my left hand, causing me to cringe. "I don't care…about any of that stuff…I just want Rin…"

Awwww…I mean, arrrrgghh…

Kareha looked nervously up at me. "You probably shouldn't try to evade her, Rin-kun. She's been granted enormous magic-wielding capabilities, and she could easily kill all of us in an instant if she wanted to."

"Wow…that's…freaky…" I ran a hand through my hair, sensing a dire portent coming on. "So, what…am I supposed to take her home with me and raise her as a little sister?"

"Well, yeah, that'd be awesome!" Kareha's an annoying little brat, what with her positivity and effervescence. "But you'd better watch out, there's a search warrant out for her right now from the Demons' side."

A part of me was up for just letting Primula get caught, so she would spare me the trouble. But somehow, I had a feeling that she could be a medium for me and Kaede's…problems. Maybe, something about Primula would help heal Kaede's brutal feelings towards life, me, and reality. There was always the off-chance, and I was fucking out of ideas. I'm what some people would call desperate.

"Alright, I…heh, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll take her in."

"And tonight, our Rin-kun just became a man!" Itsuki narrated in a deep voice.

"…If it's alright with Kaede-chan," I followed up.

Primula smiled at me a tiny bit with her eyes, a sight that unnervingly caused my heartbeat to rise.

"Rin-kun…are you sure?" Sakura put in.

"What?"

"Well, you know, with Kaede-chan…will it be alright?"

"Kaede-chan's pretty nice, I think she'll be cool with it," Itsuki said LIKE AN IDIOT with an aloof shrug.

"I don't know, Sakura-chan," I breathed to her, wanting to be close to her, longing to feel her nearness to me. I don't know why, but a flood of yearning for her had slowly been accumulating in my heart…perhaps all of our years of friendship had finally caught up to me? Or maybe it was brought on by Itsuki being a douche bag. "But, uh, Kaede-chan's out there right now."

"Out where?" Kareha queried.

"In the restaurant. So we might as well go ask-"

"OH MY GOD, KAEDE-CHAN IS HERE? I JUST LOVE THAT GIRL SO MUCH, I JUST WANT TO SIT ON HER LAP! KAEDE-CHAAAAAAN!" Kareha rocketed out of the room with all the subtlety of a cannon being fired off during a picnic.

"Gods…" I muttered.

"I know! Did you catch a look at her thong? Tiger. Stripes, my brother, Tiger. Stripes," Itsuki mused, walking out the door like a zombie.

So it happened that I was left with the only two people in the building that I liked.

"Hi, Rin," Primula said suddenly.

I chuckled and returned her greeting, although I was growing a little tired of her constant touch. When I looked back up, Sakura was directly in my face, causing me to leap away in fright, accidentally slamming Primula up against my chest.

"S-so, Rin-kun," Sakura said, fidgeting with her hands nervously.

"You don't need to be nervous around me, Sakura-chan," I tried to be encouraging, but it was hard to do so when Primula's proximity felt like it was burning my torso to chars.

"I can't help it," she smiled, putting her hair behind her ear. "But I've been meaning to ask you, are things with Kaede-chan going…okay?"

I was more than a little fed up with everything that had been going on, so I was less protective of Kaede than I otherwise would have been in my answer: "Stuff IS happening…that's all I can say. I'm sorry, we can talk later, okay? I promise."

Sakura's mouth turned into a small 'o.' "I see." I had no idea how to take that response, but I also felt it would be dutiful of me to go pay Kaede a visit, given the circumstances.

We gave chase to Itsuki and Kareha, and came across Itsuki (again) excitedly sharing his idiotic ideas to the four girls, all of whom looking torn between hysterics and mild curiosity. "And then it came to me, it just came to me; there's so many nudist colonies out there, why can't there be more pajama colonies? I mean, pajamas are like more comfortable than sex, right? So, I'm making it my mission, nay, my quest, to…"

"Hooray, pajamas!" Kaede cheered, succumbing to a delirious laugh.

"START THE WORLD'S FIRST PAJAMA-ONLY COLONY!" Itsuki declared, slamming his foot up on the table. "And would you just check out my calf muscles? Cin-chan, please touch my calf."

"I…I really don't know if I should," Cin said with a laugh as I stared on with goggling eyes. How could they ALWAYS treat me like they do, and then tolerate this…JACKASS like this?

"I mean, that's a pretty firm calf there, you should check it out. Here, I'm flexing it right now!"

"Okay," Cin giggled, touching it. "Oh, WOW! That's, like, rock-hard! That's incredible! How did you get it like that? You all should touch it!"

"That's, I mean, that's what I'm always trying to tell people," Itsuki followed up with his retardation as Daisy and Kaede began feeling up his calf. "Calf appreciation is actually, like, on the come-up now in societal culture."

"Why…are they touching his leg?" Primula looked up and asked me.

I laughed shortly. "I have no idea."

Sakura cleared her throat, and Kareha turned around and seemed to remember something pertaining to sanity. "Oh, great, you're here!" the god commented. "Alright, everyone! Rin-kun said that he thinks it would be a great idea for Primula-chan here to move in with Kaede-chan and him."

Wow. What is your problem, Kareha-sempai?

The three girls at the table each had a priceless expression on their face, being torn between their disguises of kindness, their shock, and their sneers they were attempting to hide. Quite a good look for Daisy, I must admit.

"No, that…that was wrong," I said, walking forward. "I really wouldn't be up for this if there were ANY other way…"

"Is that her?" Kaede interrupted me, looking past me at Primula, looking slightly aghast. "How old are you, Primula-chan?"

"…I don't know…"

Kaede's eyebrow twitched slightly, but she pulled herself back together. "Well, I don't know why you thought you had to ask me! I'd love to have someone as adorable as her living with us!"

I rolled my eyes as Itsuki patted me on the shoulder, admonishing me. "See, Rin-kun? I told you there wouldn't be a problem."

I ignored the incriminating look Kaede shot at me, retreated out of the crowd of popular students and looked rather wearily at Primula and Sakura. "Sakura-chan…sorry our date didn't really happen," I kind of muttered.

She smiled at me gently. "Don't worry, I understand."

I shook my head, "There's no way you could possibly understand everything, um, psychotic that's been happening to me recently…" I made an effort to place my sweaty palm on her shoulder, which caused her to gasp in surprise; I thus immediately retracted my touch with a fearful gasp as well from her unexpected reaction. Because I'm completely broken. "Yeah, so…I'll…one day soon, I'll tell you about everything that's happened."

"If you don't want to, that's okay…" Sakura's eyes veered away from me. "I can understand why you'd prefer Sia-chan or Nerine-chan over me…I don't really have anything to offer anyone…"

"That's not true at all, Sakura-chan," I said, a little short on oxygen at the moment. "You're…awesome."

What a lame thing to say…I'd better augment that. Especially since this girl is ferociously FINE looking.

"I like you a lot, Sakura-chan…" I said, wincing with pathetic-ness as I spoke each word. Sakura's eyes widened and she returned her gaze to me with a developing blush.

"What?" Primula asked, and I returned to reality.

"Oh, hey! What do you say we go see your new home?" I recommended, receiving no answer in return as expected. I swiveled my head back up to Sakura, but was now too embarrassed to say anything to the elaborately beautiful girl, so I instead merely snatched Primula's hand and dragged her out the door.

* * *

(_Day 1, Part 1_)

Alright, we're here! I made it, somehow! Primula and I waltzed in the front door of the Fuyou household, and I closed it behind us.

"So big…" Primula said soullessly, peering around the living room.

I don't even know how I even can keep track of what's real or not, anymore, everything about everything has turned so psychotic. Maybe I won't go to school anymore…I can still feel that fear clutching my heart like a barbed claw.

"Y-yeah."

Let's see. I probably have about twenty minutes, max, until Kaede gets back. I can say anything I want, and not be in pain for as long as I want, till then! Hardcore!

"Rin. What do you want me to do while I'm here?" Primula looked up at me quietly.

"What are you talking about?" I cocked my head. "If you mean housework, I can take care of everything myself, I'm pretty good at it. You can just relax."

I wonder if Kaede really will be okay with everything…or anything…

A thunderbolt of pain alerted me that Primula had again touched. "Um…I'm really sleepy," she said, her eyes squinted but still glimmering blue.

Oh, she is just WAY too cute.

"Oh, you'll need somewhere to sleep, won't you?" I said, a bit roughly due to the pain. "Um…I think there's a guest room up next to Kaede-chan's room. Would you mind staying in that for a while?"

"…Is that what you want?" Primula asked, nodding off on my chest. "I want to sleep with you, Rin…"

"Ummmmmmm, that's no good, Primula-chan…" I said nervously. There were several reasons I didn't want to sleep with Primula, the foremost of which being my other housemate's potential reaction.

I heard the door clunk open, at which point I sporadically leapt across the room, away from Primula. Fantastic that Kaede chose tonight to break all of her speed records. I was interested in seeing how Kaede's true self would act in light of this bizarre development.

"Hi, Primula-chan! I'm Kaede, and it's soooo nice to meet you!" Ah. So that's how she would act.

"Nice to meet you, too, Kaede."

"Ah, you can call me Mommy!" Kaede said, patting Primula on the head as she walked past, setting her stuff down.

"But, why?"

"Please call me Mommy, and Rin-kun Daddy, okay?" Kaede said, the grating fakeness sending chills up my spine.

"…I told Primula-chan that she could take the guest room. Would that be alright?" I asked Kaede.

"Oh, suuure! Go get set up, sweetie! Guess what? I'll come help you in a little bit, okay?"

"…Alright," Primula said, looking between the two of us. "Goodnight, Mommy…Rin…" After that, she silently climbed the steps to the upper level.

As quick as a thundercrack, Kaede's cheerful veneer was slashed away to reveal her bubbling malice. "What the…how the HELL could you do this, Rin-kun?"

"What's the problem, Kaede-chan?" I responded politely.

"This is MY house. I am God here. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Kaede-chan."

"I don't think you fucking do," she gasped, grinning broadly. "Why else would you bring in this braindead tramp without my permission?"

"…I got your permission, Kaede-chan, in the…"

"Don't even! You know what I mean!"

I supposed I was the only person in the world who could know what she meant. I sighed. "Listen, like I told you, this was thrust upon me, you know. I never wanted it to be any more than just the two of us here."

"You mean just you and Primula."

I folded my arms. "I understand that you're upset, but please, just try to put yourself in her shoes for a little bit."

She stalked up, grabbed me by the neck, and thrust me into the mantle with astonishing strength. "DON'T tell me what to do, Fuckhole! Would you like me to remind you of all your trespasses against me today?"

"I don't think…"

"You had the audacity to speak to me. To ME! In public. What the fuck? Then, you stared like a slackjawed, inbred American, which, for all points and purposes, you ARE, when I was put in compromising fucking situations that I had to act under distress to get out of, alright?" Her voice developed slowly into a brainless hiss.

"Kaede-chan."

She kicked me in the balls and I vomited on the floor as a reflex. A moment later, I felt shackles being bound around my hands.

"Not to mention you're ugly, stinky, slimy, effeminate, contemptible, cowardly, slutty, and nearly every single bad trait that a person could ever acquire. And it's just my fucking luck that, because we were once "friends," I'm forever going to be linked to you." Her voice moved to the kitchen, and then back again. "Especially now that Sakura and Primula are in our lives, it's going to be just that much tougher for me to FINALLY get rid of your very last fucking trace, bitch."

I didn't really know what to say at that point, although I did feel very nauseous and scared.

Kaede's gigantic lips touched my left earlobe as I felt her hands come around my waist and unfasten my belt. "Do you like this, whore? Does this turn your sick mind on?"

"Nope," I said quite truthfully as she husked off my pants and boxers. It was probably impossible for me to ever get turned on by Kaede at this point.

"Alright, you small-dicked faggot," she declared, and subsequently I felt a very bizarre shape slam up against my asshole. The more she tried to force it in, the more my tender anal nerves verified what it was: an eggbeater. "Let's see if this gets you horny."

She instantly flicked it on, and I roared with pain the likes of which I'd never felt before; the beater sliced and burrowed its way into my ass, crunching through the muscle and bone as my skin pureed into a red, watery mixture that streamed rapidly out of my ass and onto the carpet.

"It doesn't get any better than this, fucker!" Kaede bellowed in psychotic celebration as I outscreamed her in feral panic as my entire ass was obliterated into liquid at the hands of my eggbeater. The FUCKING ! SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

When some sense of consciousness returned to me, I saw Kaede standing gloatingly over me as she undid my shackles. "You're done for today, bastard," she commented sweetly. "As a reward for you screaming so nicely for me." With that, she stepped casually away, leaving me basting in my anal fluids.

* * *

(_Day 1, Part 2_)

After I healed up at Sia's (I gave her a hug and as much awestruck, thankful praise as I could muster), I returned home with my anus in one piece.

Realizing I had to stitch my uniform back together for school, I skipped back up the steps and crept past Kaede's room.

No sooner had I opened my closet door when Primula silently stepped out of it, looking absolutely void of any emotion, as usual.

"Good evening, Primula-chan," I said in a hushed voice, hating the blush that covered my face as I addressed the kid.

"…Hello, Rin."

"Is there, um, something I can help you with?" My heart seemed to be conspiring against my better intentions as it sped up for no reason.

"I'm sleeping with you."

"Wow. Okay. Um. I d-don't think that's such a goood…"

Primula ignored my attempt at a protest and slipped directly past me and collapsed on my bed. "I'm tired."

I sighed. "So am I…" I ran a hand through my hair, trying to think of the best course of action. Picking her up to force her to leave would clearly involve me touching her, certainly violating her with the lengthy physical contact inherently required. On the other hand, sleeping with her would be…

Without any more hesitation, I tiptoed over and picked her up by her tiny armpits. Trying not to think at all about how soft and smooth her skin was, I whisked her out the room and down the hallway, directly past Kaede.

"This is NOT what it looks like," I warned her in a deep voice.

Kaede just stared at me with a sickening-to-behold grin that somehow made her face take on the unsettling air of a forty year old man.

I then noticed an unfamiliar scent…Primula's pheromones?

"That feels…very…very…" Primula breathed somewhat huskily with her eyes closed and head thrown back.

"Please don't, Primula-chan," I pleaded, trying to ignore the placement of my fingers on the edges of her breasts…and the feeling of her erect nipples through her lab gown…oh, gods…

After hastily dropping the girl back off at the entrance to the guest room, I turned and saw that Kaede had mysteriously disappeared, and that the lights had been switched off. I wasted no time in descending the stairs in two jumps and barreling out the side door, deciding on the spot to spend the night in the cathedral.

* * *

(_Day 2, Part 1_)

I returned home from the mall with Primula, who had selected a wardrobe of new clothes on my tab. I have extremely little knowledge (or taste, for that matter) in women's clothes, so I just went for the options that covered up the most skin. Primula seemed happy…ish…just to be spending the day with me. For my part, in order to vanquish my fears of her, I was just trying to convince myself that Primula wasn't a girl at all, just a very cute robot from another dimension.

Upon arrival, said robot and I were immediately hounded by Kaede, who was sipping coffee with squinted eyes.

"My friends are coming over, Rin-kun."

"Yeah. So…what?"

"My friends are coming over, Rin-kun."

"Yep, got it. I mean, do you have an implied request in addition to that statement?"

Kaede looked down at Primula, smiled encouragingly, and stooped down to her level. "What's up, Primu-chan?"

"…Hello, Mommy." This, naturally, broadened Kaede's smile.

"Isn't there anywhere that you'd like Daddy to take you today, sweetie?"

"Well…" As Primula thought, I decided to dump the newly-purchased assortment of tops, bottoms, socks, and underwear on the couch. "I guess the aquarium could be nice."

"Yeah, that would be awesome!" I agreed enthusiastically.

"See, Daddy thinks just like a little kid, too!" Kaede snickered, although Primula didn't crack a smile.

"Okay, we'll go, then," I said, walking back over to Kaede. "What time are your friends staying till?"

"Oh, they're welcome to stay as long as they want, as usual!" Kaede said with the utmost sweetness. "If they're still here when you come back, just try to run upstairs without making too huge of a scene."

"Alright! We will, won't we, Primula-chan?" I said, patting the girl on the shoulder.

"Sure."

"Ah, you must be tired, Rin-kun, since you just got back from the mall! Let me pour you some of this coffee, okay?" Kaede said, a bright smile entering her eyes. Aww, that was a nice thing to do!

"Oh yeah, I'm SPENT." I took the resulting cup and downed it as fast as possible while Kaede helped Primula change into something fitting for wear in modern-day society.

* * *

(_Day 2, Part 2_)

DAMN that fucking bitch!

It's a GOOD thing that we didn't come across anyone I knew at the aquarium. She must have snuck something like Viagra in that coffee…because, um…ah… yeah. That.

One thing they don't tell you on the Viagra ads (not that I watch them, mind you) is that it makes you really, ridiculously, euphorically happy. I was borderline psychotic the entire trip, just totally jazzed to stare at every single mossy rock, and VERY psyched to analyze seahorses.

I'm pretty sure Primula had fun, too…or at least, I sure hope she did, and was not paying attention to my pelvic region. Because, MAN. Due to my, ah, aversion to women, I'm not a person who gets erections as a common eventuality. Before today, I could probably count my total erections ever on one hand.

Despite this, however, I STILL have an erection, even after six fucking unbearable hours. This, obviously, was not a good thing for pedestrians to observe as I was accompanying the (adorable) Primula, about whom I never, ahem, had ANY dirty thoughts. Whatsoever.

I'd also never jizzed before today. I was well acquainted with accounts of such happenings, however, so I knew that that fast-approaching feeling of doom I felt all along my penis HAD to be ejaculatory Armageddon swiftly heading my way. I'm proud to say I never jizzed while still out in public.

To make matters worse, I had to stuff my elephant-sized dick down one sleeve of my pants in order to somewhat hide my artificial excitement. The downside of this, naturally, was that EVERY SINGLE FUCKING MOVEMENT I made stroked me with the most mind-melting pleasure I'd ever felt before. DAMN Kaede to hell.

Anyway, after our…interesting visit to the aquarium, I walked Primula back, with my penis now noticeably more sore, yet still gigantic, throbbing, and hungry. Not a good situation, considering that Kaede's friends were here.

"Rin…are you alright?" Primula asked me when I hesitated in front of the front door.

"…Probably not," I said, feeling like crying despite my artificial euphoria. "I'm kind of a mess right now, Primula-chan."

"So…I noticed your genitals are swollen."

"D-d-d-don't even worry about that!"

"You look like you're about to explode."

"It's okay, this is normal."

"It must be hard to be a boy."

"Probably not the case for most boys; I think it's just me," I said, winking at her, reflecting that the drug made her look even more forbidden and tempting to behold in the moonlight.

"Thanks for spending so much time with me today, Rin. I…I really do love you," Primula said with that husky quality back in her voice.

"You're very welcome, Primula-chan," I said, fondly patting her on the head. "Um…do you think I could borrow your gift shop sack for a second, while we walk past the women?"

"Go ahead," she said softly.

Swiftly, the two of us maneuvered through the ground floor, trying not to draw attention to ourselves as per Kaede's orders. I snuck a split-second look at them, and my heart jumped unexpectedly when my eyes met Asa's, which compelled me to immediately break contact and continue on my quest to safety.

The first place I went was the bathroom, in which I ripped off my pants and underwear, tried and failed to aim my inflatable firearm into the toilet, and FINALLY let go.

It was a LONG one. It really seemed to last about thirty seconds, every moment climaxing in greater pleasure in release than I knew possibly existed. THIS was heaven. Finally, I understood a little of the appeal of sex, despite my distaste for the activity.

Unfortunately, I completely blacked out, collapsing on the bathroom floor for who knows how long.

When I groggily opened up my eyes, Primula was kneeling beside me, staring at my face. "Rin…are you okay?"

I breathed a while, and was about to answer when I panicked, realizing my package was still hanging out. "I-I-I-I-I'm sorry, Primula-chan," I trilled as I stuffed it back into my clothes. Guilt swarmed over me. I've got to be the…WORST…whatever I am to Primula…that I could possibly be.

"I forgive you. For what?"

"Um, it's pretty late, isn't it? Shouldn't you go to bed?" I looked at my watch and was disappointed to see that I hadn't been unconscious for too long; the other girls were still probably here.

"Well…I have a…a small problem, Rin," she said, sounding oddly embarrassed.

"Well, I'm sure I can help you out with it," I said cheerfully.

"I don't know how to bathe…but I really need to…I kind of smell bad right now."

"Ggghh…" I groaned in defeat. I should have seen this coming.

"At the research facility, the scientists bathed me…I've never done it by myself."

I stood up. "No…no, I can't, Primula-chan, I'm sorry. That's just going way, WAYYYY over the line."

"Please, Rin-kun? If it's with you, then I think it will be the best bath ever."

"I…umm…argh…" This was FAR morally worse than just sleeping with the innocent girl, and I certainly hated to imagine Kaede's reaction to viewing me washing Primula in the bath. I wanted to go get Asa or Kareha to help, but Asa seemed to hate me at the moment for some reason, while Kareha only treated me kindly while not in the company of Kaede and her cronies. It really sucks to be stuck in a building full of supermodel-quality girls that hate your guts when you're ridiculously afraid of beautiful girls.

Especially in situations like this. What to do?

"Rin…don't you love me, too?" Primula said, as she undraped her shirt, revealing her bra-clad chest.

I quickly averted my eyes and said a forceful, "No. No I don't, Primula-chan. So, I have to go. Um…if you want, you can just use a bar of soap and scrub it all over your body. And, um, just empty out the shampoo bottle into your hand, rub it all over your hair, and then rinse it out in the water. It's not too hard, okay?"

As I reached the door, I turned back around to look at her reaction. She was standing before the sink, head leaning straight down in darkness, the epitome of despair.

"Primula…" I murmured, thinking about what to do.

I swept over, hardly aware of what I was doing, gently turned her around, picked her up into my arms, and kissed her on the lips, just like I'd always wanted to do to Nerine. Her breath was floral, delicate, and very, very alive. Much unlike a robot's.

Primula's eyes inflated to the size of pancakes. "Rin!" Her breath was still on me. So addicting! And yet…

I stepped back, ruffling my hair in embarrassment. "Primula…it's just too soon for a bath right now, alright? Let's just take it easy for now."

"…O…kay…" she said, looking searchingly at me. "Thank you, Rin, for your kiss."

"Um, no problem," I said in a high voice, skipping out the door, not really caring if she ended up bathing or not.

"Let's do it again sometime…" I heard her droning voice say from behind the wooden door as I stared straight into Asa's face.

I swallowed my scream and panicked vomit. "Hey Asa-sempai!" The bath water began running.

She gave me a dirty look. "Rin-kun…are you enjoying your new charge?"

"No, not at all, she's really annoying and I hate her," I said very quickly, hoping my words would be somewhat muffled on Primula's side of the door.

Asa glared with evident disbelief."I bet. Ah…do you think I could get into the bathroom now?"

I swept away, offering the bathroom to her with my arms. "Be my guest!"

As she entered, she told me without looking, "You're a lot worse than I thought you were. Maybe Kaede-chan's right about you."

"She's right about a lot of things about me," I sighed after she was gone, dragging my broken body back to my graffiti-covered room.

* * *

(_Day 3_)

After another day of school fused with panic and reliance upon my self-preservation instincts (i.e. avoiding crowds and using the bathroom every five minutes), I walked home to find Kaede's dildo of a boyfriend Bark already there. To make matters worse, he was currently hitting on Primula as I arrived on the scene.

"Well, fuck, Primula-chan! I mean, I'm just trying to tell ya, if you were any prettier, you'd fucking transcend reality and become an angel."

"Impossible. I'm a demon," Primula responded.

"I'll bet you're a demon in bed. HhhhhHHA! I'll bet you're a fucking demon in bed. Now; would you like to suck my dick?"

"Um, I AM right here," Kaede said, giving him a cold look.

"Just shut the fuck up and get out of here, bitch!" Bark snorted. "I'm just jokin', right? HhhhhHHA! Fucking Primula-chan knows I ain't fucking no one but you, am I right, baby girl?"

"Hi Rin," Primula said displaying a brief glimmer of relief (which melted my heart) as she realized I was here.

"Man, FUCKING! Rin-kun, manwhore of the hour! Now, I tell ya, I've seen it all, and I've fucked even more than that up the ass, of course, but shit, dog! I mean, SHIT!"

"Do you have a point that you're intending to arrive at soon?" Kaede said curtly. He must have been seriously courting Primula for a while for Kaede to be this openly aggrieved against her fuck toy.

"I'm getting to that, bitch! HhhhhHHA! So, dog, not only are you bangin' the hot triplet of Sia-chan, Nerine-chan, AND Sakura-chan's fucking tight-as-fuck assholes every night, but now you've landed THIS (here he gestured at Primula, who was regarding him as coolly as Nadeshiko-sensei does me on a regular basis) piece. Of. ASS! I mean, I don't mean to be rude, but, uh…I would probably kill my own mother to fuck this Primula slut up the ass, am I right? Man, you've gotta tell me you secrets, brother, FUCK! HhhhhHHA!"

"Just as soon as I get some secrets, I will fill you in," I said sadly to Bark.

"Oh, Primula, do you want to go upstairs and get your picture you drew of Mommy and Daddy today?" Kaede said in a baby-talking voice.

After Primula left, Kaede whirled on Bark. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but you can't talk to MY charge like that, alright? Any other girl, fine, but SHE'S off limits! Do you un-der-staaaaand?" She said extra-slow to assist her boyfriend's processes of understanding.

"Maaan, what I don't understand is why you've gotta be crampin' my dick, bitch! I mean, ain't no one stopping this buttfuck train! HhhhhHHA!" I'd really like to have been there when he was conceived, just to intervene and tell them that incest is a really, REALLY bad idea.

"Bark-kun. Don't joke around. Don't talk to Primula-chan anymore, alright?" Wow, Kaede was really surprisingly serious about this.

"Look, bitch, think about it this way in your PMS-ing pussy, alright? HhhhhHHA! Rin-kun! RIN-KUN! Did you see what I did there? Alliter-fucking-ation, bitch! HhhhhHHA! Anyway, so no matter how, like, much and stuff that I talk about wanting to do horrid, unforgiveable, disgusting, rancid, damnable, and delicious stuff to Primula's virgin body, no matter how much I want to lick her tiny asshole until she farts on my tongue, no matter…"

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" I shouted on accident, drawing a look from both of them. Kaede shocked me by mouthing a "thank you" at me. I felt blissful…she and I hadn't agreed on anything for ten years!

"Hang, just, just HANG on, cowboy! HhhhhHHA! Just, just let me finish, alright? Fucking. SO, no matter what I say, Primula-chan's always gonna be Rin-kun's loyal cockhound, won't she? HhhhhHHA!"

I decided it would be better to not press my luck concerning Kaede with my prolonged presence and just went up to my room. As I reached the fork in the hallway, however, a powerful urge unlike anything I'd ever felt reacted in my chest. It was nauseous, fearful, and smothering: the call to protect.

I bolted into Primula's bedroom as I identified the feeling. I needed to keep her safe from creeps like Bark and Itsuki. "Primula-chan!" I whispered. "Are you alright?"

She had been sitting on her bed, but as I entered, she bounced off and approached me. "Why wouldn't I be?"

I smiled and gave in to my overwhelming feeling; I gathered her up in my arms and held her as close to me as possible. "No reason," I murmured. "I just like to know that you're safe, that's all."

Her head moved up so that she was peering into my eyes. "So does that mean you'll let me sleep with you from now on?"

I laughed nervously. "Uh…well…um…" I told myself I wouldn't go there, and, dammit, I wasn't going to give in to my desires, no matter how good-intentioned they might be. It WOULD feel a lot secure to sleep with her in my arms, but…um…NOPE, Nuh-uh, NOT GOING THERE, DAMN IT!

* * *

(_Day 4, Part 1_)

I woke up early (no, I didn't sleep with her!) and came down to begin my early-morning tradition of readying breakfast for the three of us, and was surprised to see Kaede standing in the kitchen with an apron, staring off in a manner not unlike Primula's signature look.

"Ah, g-good morning, Kaede-chan," I said, bowing deeply. "Would you like me to still make you breakfast?"

Kaede's mouth twitched. "Rin-kun…why are you so nice?"

"D-do what?" I cried in shock at the un-Kaede-like comment. I actually think my heart stopped for a moment.

"No other guys at school are as selfless as you…and yet…" she trailed off and painted a smile on her face. "Never mind! Ah, I thought I would make breakfast for once, um…it'll be the only thing I can make well: miso soup."

"That would be great!" I cheered. Maybe I'd get some extra sleep this morning. A thought occurred to me, so I risked another comment. "Um…did things work themselves out with Bark-kun?"

"…We broke up," Kaede said, downing a cup of coffee as she began boiling a pot of water.

"Um, that's…um, that's…um, that's…really too bad," I said, trying to wipe the stupid smile off my face. Why am I smiling? And why the hell won't it go away?

"No it's not, I'm much better off without that idiot. Not that he's dumber than you, of course," she sneered at me.

"Well, uh…" I didn't really know how much she'd permit me to discuss with her, despite her divulging mood. "I guess so. It's not my business, anyway."

"You are correct, sir! Now shut the fuck up and wait for the soup to be done."

"I can do that, master," I said, bowing again and waiting at the table. "It's nice to not have to make breakfast for once."

"If you're insinuating that you want me to do this more than just today, then you can go…"

"NO, I'm not insinuating anything, Kaede-chan. I was just making an observation on how good it feels."

"Speaking of that…" She ladled the soup into bowls. "Are you going to give the bathroom a new set of paint to cover up your dried skeet?"

"Oh, uh…" Damn, I'd forgotten about that. "Sure, I can do that, I guess." I'm really short on cash now, though. "Although, I suppose I have Viagra to thank for that one, am I right?"

"Ten doses of it," Kaede said, winking at me, a sight that made me jump a little because of its plain bizarreness. It seemed like she was being…almost flirty…in a evil way, of course.

"Well that was definitely interesting," I said, blowing on the soup after she set it in front of me. "Um…well…bottoms up, I guess." I took a spoon and lapped some into my mouth. It had a very…bizarre taste. And texture. Oh gods, what was in this? Snot? Or…

"Notice anything special?" she said, switching to her unnaturally deep voice.

"Yes…wh-what is it?" I squeaked.

Kaede stood up and slid her hands around my neck, burning my skin with affliction. "Bark-kun's semen is the ingredient." I had a vomit reflex right then and began seeping superfluous saliva out of my mouth. "Sometimes when he fucks me up the ass, I shit out his skeet into a vial, which I've been saving up for just such an instance."

"Why?"

Kaede laughed in a disturbed way, unsheathing a heretofore hidden meat cleaver from her back and proceeding to lay its blade into the skin layer of my scalp. "Don't stop! Keep drinking. ALL of it."

I opened my mouth to take in more of the sewage mixture, but I gagged and burped up bubbles of vomit before I could fit any into my mouth.

"Faster, fucker."

I murmured in response and began dumping the bowl in my mouth, choking and vomiting at rapid intervals.

"Perhaps I haven't made myself clear," she cooed, squishing her desecrated breasts into my neck, causing it to burn from that side, as well. "I will sink this blade INTO YOUR FUCKING BRAIN. Drink it fast, you pedophilic fuck."

As I upped my success ratio, she continued, "This is all punishment for that ugly, GOOFY look you gave me yesterday after I said "thank you" to you. I NEVER want to see that self-satisfied, disgusting, hopeful look on your face ever again, you miserable shit! It just makes me sick! Are you listening, fucker?"

I took a break from chugging Bark's semen to say, "Yes, ma'am."

"I tested you again this morning, which would have been obvious to anyone who isn't a broken, child molesting creep. Of COURSE I'm still dating Bark-kun, it was all a giant fucking LIE, you shit! You should have seen the perverted, retard look on your faggot face! You don't deserve love from ANYONE, and you'll never get it; I promise you. ALRIGHT?"

I finished gulping the last of the shit down just as Primula came down, at which point, Kaede hurriedly twirled her cleaver back under her clothes.

"…Is there any soup left?" Primula queried. Unfortunately, I had a massive gag attack due to the consumption of stuff originating in the nuts of a gigantic retard, and unleashed my largest vomit yet, all over the table.

"Now there is," I said darkly, and slammed my face down in the chunks.

* * *

(_Day 4, Part 2_)

Sometime after school, someone knocked at the door. Bark was over, and he, Kaede, and Primula were upstairs. I had been doing homework in the family room, but…there's always something.

Without anything vaguely resembling manners, I swung open the door with a grimace, revealing the ever-beautiful (and, to me, perpetually terrifying) Sia and Nerine, the two women whose radiance seems incomparable, except against each other. Nerine had the kind of beauty that feels sacred and forbidden, the kind that makes one avert their eyes so as to not taint the fragile miracle of her melting beauty. Sia, on the other hand, has a glorious, addictive kind of angelic beauty that simply demands your awestruck gaze in silent worship and appreciation of its runaway magnificence.

Such being the case, whenever I talk with the two, I almost exclusively look at Sia, with absolutely no offense meant to the precious Nerine.

I quickly tried to pull myself together and stand up straight as Sia screamed hello.

"Wh-what's going on, you two?" I said, my voice quivering. I can do this; I can act like a person, just for a little bit, in honor of their sovereignty of my heart.

"Nothing much! Do you need anything healed today?" Sia asked chipperly.

"Hello, Rin-kun…" Nerine said softly.

I realized I was being impolite by blocking the door for the two princesses. "What am I doing? Please, please come inside. Make yourselves at home!" I scooted out of the way.

"Actually, um, I have a small favor to ask of you," Nerine said as the sunnily-smiling Sia carefully crept past me into the house.

I looked at the pheromone-radiating demon for the first time today, and felt my heart leap up into my throat with anxiety at her vivid beauty. "H…h…w…w…"

"I know it's short notice, but my father has been meaning to meet you. Would now be an okay time?"

"Your father? The ruler of all demons?" I was shocked into phonetic fluency.

"I'm going to make dinner for EVERYBODY! Okay?" Sia sang from the kitchen. I sent her a thumbs up.

"Y-yeah, I guess it would be okay, Nerine-chan."

"Alright," she said with a pleased smile. "Here he is!"

"Ggh?" I grunted in surprise as the king stepped into view from our yard.

"Hello, Rin-dono. It is a pleasure to meet you," the rather normal-looking demon said with a miniature bow.

After a moment of shock, I straightened up and returned the gesture. "The pleasure is mine, my Forbesii-sama."

It was precisely that instant when I noticed Primula approaching out of the corner of my eye. I did a double take; she was wearing one of my dress shirts. ONLY one of my dress shirts. Add to that the fact that it was fairly transparent, and you have a problem. Words cannot describe my feelings of hopelessness at that point in time.

"Primula-chan! What are you doing?" I crowed in alarm.

She quirked her mouth at me. "I'm wearing your shirt, Rin, because it has your smell all over it. Oh, hi Forbesii."

"Well, if it isn't young Primula. It's a relief to see that you've made it into good hands," Nerine's father said with the apex of calmness as his daughter and Sia were staring at Primula like she was a duck doing Tae Kwon Do.

"Ah, that's right! You were part of the Yggdrasil Project, right, Forbesii-sama?" I asked.

"Too true, too true," he said with an easygoing smile, leaning towards his daughter and whispering something to her that caused her to glare at him.

In the meantime, I returned my attention to my housemate. "Really, you should put on some more of the clothes I bought you."

"Ooh, Rin-kun bought her clothes?" Sia exclaimed. I didn't understand why this was exciting, but her personality was so boundlessly optimistic that I couldn't help but smile a little.

"…My genitals aren't showing, so why is this bad?" Primula asked soullessly.

"Too many reasons to count…" I sighed, rubbing the back of my head.

"Well, I can see that my daughter is going to be wed into experienced hands! What good taste you have, Nerine-chan!"

Sia skipped over to me, eyes full of eagerness. "Future husband, can I please look at what you bought Primula-chan? I MUST know what your tastes are in clothes!"

"Sure. Primula-chan, why don't you take her up to your room?" I turned back to Forbesii. "Really, Forbesii-sama, this isn't what it looks like."

"You may be unaware, Rin-dono, but we demons have very keen perceptions of the connections between people's souls. The fact, alone, that you have captured Primula's attention, let alone her dedicated affection, speaks VOLUMES for your capability as a charismatic leader." He spread his palms. "Until now, Primula's been almost entirely unresponsive to other people."

"W-well, thank you," I said nervously.

Forbesii noticeably nudged Nerine in the shoulder, and I returned my shaky attention to the blushing princess. She shuffled forward, and, looking down, said, "Rin-kun…would you like to continue the touching practice we started last week?"

The odd thing was, the only, ONLY time I'd been around Nerine without smelling her ever-present pheromones was this brief period since her father walked in the picture. He must have had an (understandably) smothering affect on her libido. On the other hand, I felt I'd given very little attention to the gorgeous girl, so I thought I ought to at least do something.

"Sure," I said in a squeaky voice. "Um…maybe, could we wait until we're in private sometime?"

"Y-yes, that'd be great," Nerine said with a relieved smile that made me want to piss myself with its crippling brilliance. Wait…I'm supposed to touch THIS sacred person? Again? What was I thinking? ESPECIALLY considering I'd already promised her that I'd go farther this time…

"Hmmm, grandchildren…" Forbesii mused rather generically.

As if on cue, a rhythmic creaking began from upstairs, accompanied by further Kaede vocalizations. "HARDER! UNGH! EEEEEEK! FUCK MY FUCKING CUNT, GHGHAHHG!"

"Well…" I said, nervously rubbing the back of my neck. "That would be my other housemate, Kaede-chan. Um…she likes to have sex. Oh! !" I quickly caught myself.

Forbesii laughed. "Well, this place has potential to someday be a fine bordello!"

"Father!" Nerine sighed. She smiled rather apologetically at me, and I accidentally began to get an erection (she's just a little bit TOO pretty for me to handle; my thoughts were pure, I promise). "So…I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school! And feel free to come over whenever you want to hold our next, um…practice session."

I bowed, paying no attention to Kaede's continued screaming. "My lady, my lord. Thank you for gracing me with your presence tonight."

"See you!" Just as they left, Sia ran back over to me.

"Wow, I never realized Kaede-chan was such a sex addict," she said with some anxiety.

"Don't worry about it. She's a little bit unique. And, um, not all humans are like that, you know."

Sia nodded. "Well…I guess it's probably better if I leave at this point, what do you think?"

I smiled to show my gratitude. "Yeah, I guess so…you're beyond awesome, Sia-chan."

She spread her arms and gave me a coy look with her eyes. "Hug?"

I gulped. "Alright…" Trying not to think about it too much, I came up face-to-face with her, took a deep breath, and pulled her petite form into a tight embrace. She was SOO soft, so holy feeling. Her body was divine perfection.

"I wish I could hug back…" she whispered. I had a thought, and decided to test it. Thus, I gently took her outspread hands and pressed them to my own back.

"No pain?" she asked breathily, her lips smelling like tropical fruits.

"None at all," I said, looking into her eyes with care as I wound my arms back around her incredibly beautifully-formed body.

"I tried not to press at all, future husband." Her eyes were completely reciprocal in their feeling. I had never seen someone look at me like that before, so I opened my mouth and spontaneously declared:

"I love you." It wasn't only instinctual, of course. I loved her more than I loved anything that I'd ever encountered.

"I love you, too."

* * *

(_Day 5, Part 1_)

I went to bed that night, thinking of Sia. Even after Bark came in during one of his battery-recharging breaks later to try and convince me that I was "one of those bisexuals," to use his words, I couldn't get Sia off my mind. Unfortunately, thinking longingly about her was, in every instance, accompanied by a feeling of guilt and desire for Sakura and Nerine. Thus, no matter who I selected as the woman I wanted in my head, I could never truly be satisfied with that thought. I was just going to have to figure out some kind of…I don't know…method, for divulging which beautiful girl was the one I truly loved the most…or who I was most compatible with…or who I OUGHT to love the most…GAH! This is so ridiculously complicated! Especially once I added my responsibilities to Kaede, Primula, and the princess's fathers on top of my main decision.

In the end, I promised myself I would try to think up some kind of process by which I could isolate which girl I liked the best. I didn't know if such a test existed, but it was a nice thought to have as I went to bed.

The next morning, I awoke to someone moving in the bed, their body sharply touching mine. It was Primula! She was…in my bed. Despite the fact that I'd repeatedly told her not to sleep with me. Also, she was still wearing my see-through dress shirt only. I looked at her adorable sleeping form momentarily, but quickly decided to look somewhere else before I got any bad ideas…aha! The alarm clock! Amazing! It was 5:20 in the morning! What do you know?

I continued looking around the room and realized that Kaede was sitting in only a bra at my desk chair. She stared at me in her unnerving way and repeatedly inserted a crowbar up her crotch, to pass the time, apparently.

"GAHHH! H-how long have you been there?"

"Exactly two hours and 47 minutes. After Bark and I finished fucking for about seven hours straight, which is seven hours longer than YOU'LL ever fuck for, I noticed that Primula wasn't in her bedroom. Of course, it wasn't hard to guess who took her…" her lips wrapped into a sickly grin. She stood and approached me with her wet crowbar.

* * *

(_Day 5, Part 2)_

After Sia had healed me and I'd returned home from school (where Nerine and Sia both were even more crowding with their well-intentioned affection than usual, which rendered me borderline vegetative throughout the day), I set to work repairing the window that had been shattered this morning by my flying body crashing through it.

Naturally, I had no idea how the hell to repair a fucking window, so I took notes from the hardware store guy and began working on what I'm sure would turn out to be another failure of an effort from me. Regardless of my knowledge and capabilities, however, we were supposed to get some pretty stormy weather, so I wasted no time in being a terrible handyman.

As I was hammering in the new window frames, I realized I was able to hear a little of what Kaede was saying down the hall from my room. I put my ear to the glass to get better reception.

"Hey Primu-chan, I've heard more stories about what Daddy does in his spare time! Wanna hear?"

"No…I didn't like the stories last time."

"No, no wait, just…just listen to this! I heard that, last week, Daddy found a little girl at the supermarket and took her behind the store, putting needles in her body." Well…I don't really know what Kaede's sources are…but this 'Daddy' seems to resemble her a lot more than it does me. "Two days later, they found her naked, graying body in a toilet."

"…Was she alive?"

"Oh no, no, she didn't make it, which is too bad, because she never had sex. Because, remember, what do I always say?"

"…Sex is the most important part of life." Ugh. Hearing Primula say that gave me a shiver of disgust.

"That's right," Kaede said caressingly. "Love isn't important, you realize. It's nothing but an inevitable disappointment to pursue, since all men are extremely stupid, uncivilized, and disconnected from reality."

"I understand, Mommy."

"Also, Daddy has had lots of experience having sex with little boys. Since you like Daddy so much, you should go out and practice on some little boys too, okay?"

Okay…what. The FUCK. How DARE she, as Primula's protector, talk to her like that?

Suddenly, I realized what was going on; this was why she was tolerating Primula! She must have been slipping her this demented philosophy shit when I'm not around, brainwashing her into another corrupted goon!

Damn it.

There's a lot I can take…but this is PRIMULA! I can't stand Kaede poison-tonguing someone so close to me. The next thing I know, Primula, my only line of defense against Kaede, might leave!

I can't stand it! I'm going to KILL that bitch…damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!

As I aggressively pounded nails into the side of the house while fantasizing about murdering Kaede, the hammer flew backwards completely out of my hand. I made a cry somewhere between a curse and a warning to potential passerby, spun around on my ladder, and… saw my hammer descend in slow motion…all the way into some small, black critter that was walking across the front yard with a resounding squish.

"Okay…that was some incredibly terrible timing on that thing's part," I muttered as I slid off the ladder and walked towards the blood pool to try and identify the thing. It was black…with white stripes…certainly something I'd never seen before in our city.

"So, what'd you fuck up today, Rin-kun?" Itsuki asked from the other side of the body.

"No idea, man. Uh, what are you doing here, anyway?" My blood was still pumping with anger.

"What else? I'm here to pay a surprise visit to Primula-chan! The forbidden lilac treasure of my soul's calling!" He announced broadly, waving his bouquet of carnations around like a maniac.

"You…I think you have some problems, Itsuki-kun."

"Nahh, I don't think so. Did you know, that if you grew out your hair a little bit, you'd look just like a woman."

"And if you did, you'd still be about as good looking as a lobster."

"Man, is THAT a ZORILLA?" Itsuki cried, pointing his finger dramatically at the creature with a hammer in its gut.

"Um. I think it's a skunk…"

"Nooo, it's a zorilla. Everyone knows, the zorilla is a member of the polecat family, and thus has exactly three white bands on its back. As you can see, this one has three. Therefore, zorilla. I'm right, you're wrong, HAH!"

I just stared at him.

"Well, I hope our zorilla friend got to pee before he died," Itsuki mused. "Because, zorillas are very lone creatures, very, very rarely seen in a group, in fact. So sex is out of the question."

"But surely they mate sometimes, right? I mean, where else could he have come from?"

"See? Now you're getting it! Who needs moping around about no one liking them when you have ZORILLA QUEST 3000! The journey across Japan to find out the origin and extent of its zorilla population!"

"Let's do it," I said in a guttural, serious voice. "This will be an epic undertaking. Most epic."

"Damn straight, dog, now we're gonna need a mascot. Primula! Primula! Primula!" He took to calling Primula's name in an aggravating voice at the door for some time. "Primula! Primula! Primula! Primula! Primula! Primula!"

Finally, the door opened, revealing a kindly-smiling Kaede. "Oh, hi there, Itsuki-kun! How are you doing today? Oh!" she said as Itsuki chucked his bouquet at her chest.

"Just great, Mademoiselle Firecrotch! I'm here to pick up young Primula-chan for an epic adventure," Itsuki intoned as I slapped my forehead.

"Well, I guess that's okay," Kaede said demurely, looking up at the darkening clouds. "Just be sure to get her back before the storm hits, okay?"

"I promise, gorgeous," Itsuki said with emotional texturing in his voice. "She'll be safe or I'll turn gay."

"And we know that'd never happen," Kaede giggled. "Okay, Primula! Are you ready?"

Primula came up to the door, fully dressed this time, thankfully. "…what's going on?" she asked.

"No one knows," I told her. "Come on, we're going on an adventure."

And off we went.

"Now, one day, in the bright future of Zorilla Quest 3000, I will make a really cute black fur cosplay outfit for you, okay, Primula-chan?" Itsuki shared with her. "You'll make the best zorilla ever, I'm sure of it."

"That's fortunate," she told him. "Rin, what's cosplay?"

"Um, people dress up in gaudy, crazy clothes and make general idiots of themselves."

"That sounds like the most fun ever," she said in her emotionless voice, although I saw her sneak me a quick wink and a quirk of the mouth.

"Zorillas, zorillas! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Itsuki roared at some unfortunate bushes.

"We're looking for zorillas," I whispered to Primula.

"So I gathered."

"Wow, getting a little mouthy there, aren't you?" I said teasingly.

"I learn from the best, Rin," she said, blowing me an emotionless kiss.

"Man, I can't believe that I, I! Itsuki Fubara the Third! That I get to head up this organization that is fated to be remembered for generations and generations! The team that tackled that impossible question: Where and why did all the zorillas go?"

I steeled my heart as I saw Asa coming towards us, wearing a spots bra and too-tight gym shorts. "What are you blabbering about, Itsuki-kun?" she asked as she took out her earbuds. Wow, she looked hot today!

"Asa-sempai. Would you like to join our esteemed association of zoobiologists specializing in the research of Japan's zorilla population?" Itsuki proclaimed, getting down on one knee in front of her.

"Wwwhat does this involve, actually?" she said, looking suspiciously at Primula and I.

"We're going to places that Itsuki-kun thinks may have zorilla populations," I said evenly. "I think."

Her face reddened for reasons unknown to me, but she said, "Okay, I'll join."

"WOOHOO!" Itsuki shot peace signs up into the air. "We just got ourselves a NEW member. We're practically legit now!"

"Haha, yayy!" I said, clapping a little joyfully; a feeling that promptly dissipated when Asa came up, snatched me by the forearm (OUCH!) and pulled me away from the others.

"Rin-kun and I have to strategize about zorillas, okay? You lead the way!" She called to Itsuki and Primula.

Itsuki did a series of extreme arm gestures in return. "That right there means zorilla, alright? Let's go, Primula-chan."

I may be the only straight guy that preferred Itsuki and Primula's company over the super-sexed, womanly, sweaty Asa standing in front of me wearing close to nothing.

"Hi," I said quietly. "Are you alright, Asa-sempai?"

"Pssh…yeah, I'm fine, never been better," Asa irritably readjusted her bra.

"You don't really seem…" I stopped and altered course, trying to picture myself talking to Itsuki instead, in order to alleviate the stress. "Look, I think maybe we're having some sort of communication problem or something…are you mad at me for some reason?"

Asa sent me an aggrieved look with her arresting violet eyes. So she was! I thought she was acting disturbingly hateful towards me lately. SO. A lead! Haha! Now what? "Um…do you want to talk things out?" I'm so woefully terrible at dealing with relationship problems with women.

"Rin-kun…I thought you were different…" Asa said, looking down at the pavement. "Listen, before I met you five years ago, I'd never felt romantic feelings for ANYone before; I kind of figured I was asexual or something."

"Wow, really?" I had no idea. "Wait, so does that mean…I changed that belief?"

She nodded, folding her hands together behind her back, which unfortunately pushed outwards her unnervingly oversized breasts. I swallowed and looked around vaguely for some zorillas.

"When you enrolled in the Cooking Club, you jolted me into a new state of awareness."

"Really? That sounds pretty impressive," I said.

"Yeah…you showed me that some boys put people far, far above themselves, almost to the point of self-eradication in an effort to serve others." She looked at me, kindness in her violet eyes now. "I was amazed at how much you put into something that no other guy would dare to do, all for a girl you obviously didn't have any romantic feelings for."

"Please stop," I said. "It's weird to have you compliment me this much."

"BUT, this year I was proved wrong. I didn't think you were the type of guy to do what you've done. Really, Rin-kun? REALLY?"

I spread my arms, completely at a loss. "What are you trying to say, Asa-senpai? What have I ever done against you?"

"Nothing against me…but…" She looked away for a moment, and when her violets returned again to my face, they looked condemning. "Why are you playing those four girls like you are? I've been watching you…you're being completely disloyal to everyone, and coming across as nothing but a self-absorbed, self-serving egotist pervert, no better than him!" She said, pointing at Itsuki.

"Okay, I see where you're coming from now!" I said, putting my hands in my pockets. "Look, I'll be the first to admit I'm a flawed guy. You're right; everything you just said about my actions has been nagging at me all week. I feel terrible."

"Are you just saying that?" she said distrustfully.

"I'm a LOT of things, Asa-sempai, but I do try to tell the truth whenever possible. Besides, it's just setting yourself up for disappointment if you put anyone on a pedestal like that, ESPECIALLY me. No one can live up to it, forever."

"I know, Rin-kun…I just didn't think that you'd be one for treating all the girls like you've been doing. You have no idea what you meant to me…"

"What are you looking for? If the only person you can possibly feel for romantically is someone who's completely, TOTALLY perfect, then you'll never find anyone, period, alright?"

"So you're condemning yourself along with the rest of your gender as being imperfect, then?"

"Well..YEAH! To err is to be human, you know? There ARE no good people, Asa-sempai."

"I knew a good person in you once, Rin-kun."

"Are you sure he's gone? I'm pretty sure I'm still the same person, only in a circumstance that paints me in a slightly worse off light."

She stuck out her tongue at me playfully. "Well, whatever, I should have known you wouldn't listen to what I'm really trying to say."

"Always have to have the last word, don't you?"

"You know it!"

"So…are we friends again, now?"

Asa sighed. "I suppose I'll give you another chance. Just keep your dick in your pants, okay?"

"That's a promise!" I laughed.

I happened to overhear Itsuki's voice: "Now, it's like I've been trying to tell you, Primula-chan; guys can only get erections when women fart out of their vaginas onto their dicks!"

* * *

"WHY did we go to the botanical garden?" Asa yelled at Itsuki and I as we left the indoor garden amidst several thunderclaps and drizzling rain. "A zorilla's not a plant!"

"…Is that what 'botanical' means..?" Itsuki asked in wonder, his hand down his pants.

"Don't get mad at me, he didn't tell me we were going there," I told her.

"The zorillas could've sneaked in, right, Rin?" Primula asked me innocently. "Then maybe we would have seen them at the botanical garden."

"That's possible, I guess."

"Primula, you're the only one who understands me," Itsuki said, taking his hand out from his underwear and patting her twice on the head with the same hand.

"Why'd I even go out on this stupid trip, anyway?"Asa said, cradling her head.

"I've been meaning to mention, Asa-senpai, you look very sexually attractive today," was all that Itsuki got out before Asa walked over and knuckled him in the balls, which did a good job ending that strand of conversation.

"This rain is coming down pretty heavily," I commented, watching the skies.

"Maybe we should wait it out," Asa recommended, touching my left arm gently. I flinched away very noticeably.

"Sorry," I murmured as I saw her face getting upset, "It's not your fault; I just can't be touched by girls, period."

"…What?" she breathed.

"…are we going to do?" Primula finished her sentence, looking at the rain splashes coolly.

"I think we should make a run for the next banner, alright, everyone? And then the one after that. That way, we can hopefully make it back to the neighborhood district," I recommended.

"Okay, let's try it," Asa said, her brow creased with worry.

"Don't anyone worry about me, I'm okay," Itsuki said, getting up with a cough.

"Alright, one, two, three…GO!" I shouted over the rainfall as we bolted out into the torrent. We sloppily made it to the next covered area, then the one after that, and the next one after that.

"I think we're making okay progress," I said, shaking the blinding water out of my eyes.

"You're not the one whose shorts keep sliding off…" Asa remarked, her body glistening beautifully with water droplets as she hiked up her gym shorts for the hundredth time.

"Don't even say anything at all, Itsuki-kun," I told him.

"I wasn't going to-"

"One, two, three…GO!" Primula tried to shout, and she darted out into the ferocious shower alone. I squeaked in alarm and bolted after her, with Itsuki and Asa right behind me.

But I didn't know where she was, nor where we were headed. Everything had turned to a thick, grey cloud of violent moisture, disguising everything as shapeless smog.

"Itsuki-kun! Asa-senpai! Primula-chan! Where are you?"

A wave of pheromones preceding her, Asa slammed into me, giving me a thunderclap of pain as her skin slapped onto mine.

"GGH!" I grunted, but Asa's hands worked to the back of my skull, destroying my nerves there, and thrust my face forwards, through the rain, into hers as she met my lips with a kiss.

It was pain…my entire body ached…but it was good pain, in a way. I shakily put my hands up to the firm sides of her back and pulled her in closer to me as she breathed out onto my lips…

"I'm sorry…" she looked at me guiltily when we separated. "I just couldn't be next to you anymore without letting you know…THAT'S how I feel about you."

"Really?" I said in shock.

"HEY, EVERYBODY, FLASH FLOOD!" Itsuki's reedy voice called through the blinding spray about us. I held Asa's brain-melting body to mine, protectively. "OR…TSUNAMI! OR TYPHOON!...SOMETHING WITH WATER! WATCH OUT!"

The gray mist parted momentarily, making way for an ominous, black wall of water that was tunneling straight down the street towards us.

"Let's go!" I cried, pulling my sempai along with me as we wound around to try and get away from the destructive water. No matter what direction I tried, though, water seemed to be aggressively stampeding towards us.

"Stop, Rin-kun," Asa said, abruptly letting go of my hand. "That place is really dangerous! It's an unfinished construction yard. Don't go near there."

"Alright, alright," I said, trying desperately to think of a way out of this asylum. "Let's see…maybe we should head for…" I ate hell water as a tidal wave wrapped around the alleyway and launched me over the protective railing fencing in the construction site.

I panicked and grabbed for something, ANYTHING.

My fingers wrapped around some brittle taping put down on the very edge of a short drop, directly looking over a yard filled with 20-meter tall spikes.

I looked down and began to feel very, VERY aggressively worried. I HAD to get up, I had no choice! I tried to get some traction on the wall with my shoes, but the stone was too slippery.

My fingers were slipping. I wouldn't have much more time alive…there wasn't anything I could do to save myself.

I screamed, and then looked on in horror as Itsuki blasted over the edge, a spike impaling him from his skull all the way through his body to his anus.

"Rin, is that you?" I heard Primula's unemotional voice waxing distress from above.

"Don't worry about me, Primula-chan, save yourself," I said, desperately wanting her to get away from this deathtrap.

I saw the girl look over the edge at me with her ever-calm eyes. "No, I'll save you, Rin." She placed her tiny hands on mine. The resulting jolt promptly caused me to let go of the side of the cliff, and I flipped backwards off the precipice to my death.

My last living vision before my skull met spike was the chilling look on Primula's face. I never wanted to see that kind of look on any girl's face, especially Primula's. It was beyond horror, beyond despair…it was the look of ugly, twisted insanity.

* * *

**A/N: That was a large one. Although one may be surprised, the story will be continued for many chapters after this. Stay tuned for more Moonbite!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **As if this story wasn't weird enough, here's a chapter from the viewpoint of the chief villain, Kaede. Normally I don't tend to like switched perspectives in fanfiction, due to its overuse as a gimmick or out of pure laziness. However, I think Kaede's perspective's eventual importance (in and of itself) to the plot is enough to incorporate it. I don't anticipate other characters narrating besides these two, however.

As a heads up, this chapter has some sexual content in the form of masturbation, so read at your disgression.

Dislaimer: I own absolutely nothing pertaining (at all) to Shuffle! If I did, however, Rin wouldn't be such a selfish little bitch.

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 7**

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

I switched channels. Then again. Then again. There's shit-all on today. And I wish that fucking thunderstorm would shut up.

This, sadly, is the only way I can ease the pain of my life. TV, you've always been there for me…WHY must you fail me now?

The doorbell rang.

"AH, hell no!" I sighed, getting up and dusting off my clothes. There was always fucking SOMEthing…

I had been hoping that the resilient faggot that lives with me didn't make it in this weather…but I guess that was too much to hope for. I should know by now that life offers you absolutely no simple pleasures.

Bugs. I saw some bugs out of the corner of the eye. Crawling on the cupboards, crawling on the knife bin. Crawling on the ceiling…

That fucking doorbell rang again.

"Coming," I growled, and strode forward to open it, ready to paint on a pretty face in case it was someone other than Rin.

Weird. Upon opening it, there wasn't anyone there. Only spastic chaos destroying my yard. Oh, wait, yes there was. I looked down to see Primula (Slut #4) standing in front of the glass, drenched to the point of liquidation.

"Oh well, I suppose it's alright that SHE survived," I commented to myself, opening the storm door and putting on a face of frenzied relief. "Primu-chan! You're alright! Oh, I was so worried! Here, let me dry you off, with…with…" I whipped my head around to look for something. AHA! The carpet! I dove and bundled it up to use to dry her…but realized something was wrong when I looked up into her recognizable face and found it…unrecognizable. A gigantic grin was plastered on her face, for one thing, but the rest of her face was contorted into despairing anxiety.

"Um…you are Primu-chan, aren't you?" I whispered, worried that she might kill me. Kareha had mentioned to me, after all, that Primula was potentially dangerous if she were ever to "awaken" from her state of being perpetually stoned.

Primula let out a rather un-Primula-like hiss through her teeth and looked down at me with a reality-bending gaze. "I'm going to go lie down, alright, Mommy?"

Normally, that title gave me the warm, fuzzy feeling of winning possession of her over Rin. Today, however, it made me feel sick and scared.

BUGS! There's some bugs right over there, FUCKING on the couch!

I noticed Primula was walking past me. Her back's turned to me! I could stick my boxcutter into the back of her neck, HAH! Unfortunately, I had no reason to, so I refrained from doing so. It would be HOT, though. The stinking, metallic odor of demon blood wafting out of the back of her neck…my fingers sliding in and tearing her nerves among her moist, gunky blood. I felt woozy just picturing about it.

Whoa! She's leaving! I have a question to ask her, still! How dare she?

"Oh, wait a second, Primu-chan!" I sang up the stairs. "Where's Daddy? Did he say when he was going to be back?" I crossed my fingers. This could be it. All the evidence was in place, now all I needed was the extra nudge from reality. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!

"Daddy died…he's not coming back," Primula said, with the last little bit of her sentence rising up an octave as she began to choke up.

I had no emotions. Why? Weird. I shook my head and asked again, just to be certain. She again said he was dead, didn't she? Yes…yes…YES…UUNNNNGNNNGNNGNFUCK YES!

I turned around and allowed a thumping engine of rising fire to begin accumulating in my heart. This was my soulfire's perfect celebration. YES! He's dead! I can't…I can't even believe it! The worst person on the face of the planet, the murderer of my mother…he's DEAD! DEAD! Thank you, gods, thank you SOO, SOO much for giving justice to evil. Thank…GOD!

I leapt on the couch and writhed around on it, feeling every part of the fabric, kneading it with every inch of my body. I wanted to be touched…I wanted to fuck something in celebration. He's fucking DEAD! YESSSSSSSS!

I have masturbated about the day that Rin Tsuchimi would die so many times, that it had started to sink in that, perhaps, my revenge would never truly be complete. But, oh sweet fates, it has! I have vanquished that wretch!

After I'd hugged the couch and petted its benevolence for a while, I realized I had to take a shit, so I got up and trotted upstairs to Rin's room. My vision spun and shimmered violently as I went, like I was losing all focus and control over my body, which was exactly what I wanted.

I wanted to be carried away by feelings invading from beyond myself. I wanted to be the drumbeater as his soul descended to hell, dancing with fires not my own. I WANT to beat Rin's fucking shit to pieces.

"Oh! A cleaver, need a cleaver, need a cleaver, need a cleaver!" I sang, rubbing my clit as I altered course and went to my top-secret stash of blades under the floorboards of my bedroom.

Thus equipped with my favorite meat cleaver, still stained brown from the contents of Rin's stomach, I spun around, almost fell over from the sweet surrender to the spiritual guru of murder I was fucking with my soul at the moment, and returned to Rin's door, pushing it in.

"Hahaha," I let slip out, beating that ugly model boat thing he had with my cleaver, over and over, until it was just fucking pieces of plastic scattered the fuck about.

"HahahahaHA," I added, rushing to his closet and slashing his wardrobe to ribbony shreds with my sharpened blade. Cutting, cutting EVERYTHING with my boxcutter. It's a clearance sale, EVERYTHING must go! !

I was about to shit myself, so I went over to his PS3, wiped all the bugs off it, and bashed the fucking piece of shit's plastic waste of space self to pieces, with a satisfying breaking noise fondling my brain as I did so.

Shit was really about to seep out into my panties now, so I pulled up my skirt, yanked off my panties, pictured Rin lying on the bed, slammed my sexy ass down where his face would be, and shit and shit and shit out of my ass onto the pillow…HAH! So…GOOD!

I put the cleaver into his mattress repeatedly as I farted and pissed on the pillow, desecrating and destroying everything about him, everywhere that he'd been. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I broke the ugly window that he didn't succeed in repairing because he's a lazy dumb shit.

What's next? The wall? SLAM! Check. Ahh…his comics? I stabbed them until they erupted confetti-like shreds of beautiful paper tears into the sky, er, air.

Hah! The floor! The fucking floor! I slammed my cleaver into it, and the fucking thing got stuck, what the fuck? Gods. I yanked, and then yanked again, finally getting the fucking thing out. Piece of SHIT!

In my rage, I bashed his desk in half. It's hard to describe how utterly satisfying it is to DESTROY everything about an evil person's memory, when they can do jack shit to defend it from you, HAH!

I rubbed my ass on his desk chair, pooping some more and smearing the shit stains on the fabric. God damn, this is AWESOME! I had no idea the extent to which I would be delighted that my friend is dead. He's dead! Damned dead, and never coming back, too.

Suddenly, I realized I wasn't alone. I looked wide-eyed up to the door and saw Primula staring at the room, and at me, with her face still mutated into something far, far, beyond her typical cuteness. She looked truly disturbed, and I'm sad to say I actually felt a little sorry for her…probably because I'd been there myself a few times, myself.

Thus sobered, I felt a cold slither of slime materialize on my skin as I stood up and raised my panties again.

"…Hi, Primu-chan," I said in an attempt at a soothing voice, as she looked like she'd frayed her last strings of sanity beyond repair. "Do you want a hug?"

The girl, who hadn't blinked once since she'd come home, nodded twice very slowly, making a catlike cough.

"Aww…" I said, a nagging bit of pain forming around my throat. I padded up and wrapped her in an enveloping hug, holding her tightly and petting her hair. "It'll be alright…you know what they say! Good things must come to an end, the bad ones must go on forever." I don't actually believe that proverb gibberish, but I thought it might help the slut somewhat.

She took a moment, but then returned the hug, very tightly. I pretended it didn't piss me off, though, and continued humming to her and petting her beautiful hair.

After we broke apart, I reminded her that life would go on, and she'd find other boys to fall in love with. I lead her back to her room and tucked her in, although her wide-eyed stasis didn't make sleep seem too promising an object for the slut.

Thus accomplished, I decided to go to my favorite masturbation spot: the shower!

I ripped off my clothes, anxious to get out of them so I could appreciate how beautifully-formed my nude self is in the mirror. Oh yeah…I look hot. I took time to rub my hands over myself, admiring the subtle ways my flesh hushed to my touch. I'm so sexy. I shut the bathroom door, slid into the tub, and turned on a warm shower.

"Thanks once again, gods!" I cried in pleasure as I tucked my fingers into myself and began stroking my g-spot abrasively. This was a truly wonderful day. I'm so thankful that I'm alive!

I rolled my tongue and allowed my pleasure to manipulate my vocal cords by itself. My voice just sounds so sexy at times like this…it's truly something to treasure.

"Rin-kun is dead…Rin-kun is dead!" I breathed between cries as I recalled beating him, just breaking his FUCKING bones like that fucking bitch deserved! I remember the taste of his eye socket…and the taste of his eyeball itself, coupled with its slimy texture and the way it burst like fresh gelato on my tongue. SSSSSSSS!

I get off SO much on beating his fucking bitch ass and abusing him. I love the feeling of digging into his scrotum with my fingernails, allowing his pervert juice to seep, unbidden, into my palms. I can still taste that addictive mixture of his balls' punctured juices mixed with his genital sweat!

Blood! I must taste blood! I need it, oh, how I need it! To this end, I took a razor and sliced open a vein on the back of my palm, slurping it dry, picturing it coming out of Rin's severed dick. NNNG, hot!

His faces…his many priceless faces over the years. That fucking pussy ALWAYS tried to look stoic and unaffected, but it's hard to do that when you're a pathetic little fuck like him. All the many, wonderful times of him trying to pretend that he was in control, even as I was sticking needles into him, stabbing him with knives, sanding off his lips, murdering his pet…too fucking hilarious.

I masturbated about his screams, his cries, his inability to EVER stand up for himself due to his pathetic lack of balls. I screamed along with the Rin in my memories, savoring, for the last time, all the little moments of sweet revenge I'd had on him over the years.

It's over…sssss….SSSSSSSSS!

GAH! I gasped, slamming my head back against the plastic casing of the shower as I led the cum out with my fingertips.

"Goodbye, Tsuchimi Rin. THAT…was more than you deserved…" I sighed with satisfaction at dedicating one last masturbation session to his disembowelment.

I continued to feel myself up while imagining Bark raping me as I finished my shower. He's SOOO big. I always can count on him to make me feel like an innocent little girl again, and then proceed to ravage me so painfully that I can't help but scream in painful ecstasy as I cum over and OVER and OVER all upon his nutsack! The combination of innocence and violation…THAT is a surefire way for me to break.

Today, however…he's just not doing it for me as a masturbation muse. Probably because my fingers are about the tenth of his size...

Also, something else is on my mind, blocking me from my own sex drive. Primula just ISN'T getting out of my head. (No, I'm not a dyke, especially not a pedophilic one.) What is this I feel? Guilt? Jealousy? Regret? Sympathy? Some crazy combination of those four feelings, I'd guess, and they're all circling like vultures around an image of Primula's (original) face, in my head.

But why? I thought about it as I stepped out and rubbed my body down with the towel, taking steps to grind my ass extra roughly on the towel out of sexual frustration.

Hmmm…maybe…this is the feeling of motherhood? Could it be? But why would I feel that about a little slut like that? Knocking those fucking ever-present bugs off the window as I combed my hair, I reasoned that I might make sense for me to have started developing some sort of feelings of protection for the girl. I'd wager she's very, very similar to me, especially now that she's had a major tragedy (for her) in her life, and she's also been living with me for a week now, so, fuck, I guess it's not too much out of the question for me to want to mother her a bit.

I wrapped the towel around myself and walked back to my room. My mother…was the person I admired and adored, above all else! Our bond was something beyond mother and daughter; we were connected at the soul. Maybe MY soul had been hungering for this opportunity for some time, and I just hadn't been feeding that need.

Now that Rin's gone…I could start to actually take a serious stab at becoming a good mother. Yup, that's what I'll do.

My room is decked out with all my favorite decor from the demon realm. Pentagrams, black drapes of hypovelvet, a neon rainbow of nevermelting ice on my desk, disembodied candles that dance around. I'm something of an enthusiast, really.

I wondered if the old lady or her horse were here today. I peered around and didn't see either of my darklife friends here today. All the better, because I wanted to sleep.

"Ah, Rin-kun, Rin-kun, Rin-kun…you got off easy!" I clucked as I snuggled up with my mattress, feeling good about my deeds for revenge. It was never complete, unfortunately, but…this was the next best thing. Now, at least, his annoying presence was finally erased from this world. I could once more get through a day without suffering his numerous intrusions…I could live in peace, for me, and for my mom…

I saw a smiling portrait of my mom's beautiful face floating right in front of my eyes. "Ah, mom! Good to see you again! Have you come to congratulate me on a job well…HHHHH! I suddenly couldn't breathe! What was wrong with me? My mind and heart ached with an insistent pain as my mother's eyes turned red and her smile grew larger, bit by bit, until it was something far removed from 'pretty.' I wanted to look away, or blink at least, but my eyes were immobile, dry, painful, and locked on to the apparition. I felt terrible pain in my chest, a horrible feeling of mourning.

My mom's elaborate smile parted and she said, "You're not my daughter, monster!"

Then a sound wrapped around my bed, like a carousel of demon children all gasping for breath at the same time. It seemed to build in volume, get closer, and closer, until…

I woke up, sitting up and glancing around in astonishment. The pain…it was sadness! That was the terrible feeling I was stuck with.

The room was still dark, save for my floating, disembodied candles over my desk. I heaved and heaved with all my lungs to try and get some air. "What's wrong with me?" I gasped pathetically.

What was my mother trying to say? It sounded like she outright despised me. How dare her! How can she throw all the good times we had for those eight wonderful years away…like…

That…DAMMIT! I'm crying again. Sobbing, even. I must be losing my mind! I'm weeping hysterically, rocking like an old person, WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING THE FUCK WHY!

"Why, Mom, WHY? Why don't you like me?" I pleaded to the emptiness surrounding me, knowing it wouldn't answer.

Except, strangely, it did. My closet wall began moving like two lips smacking together obnoxiously, speaking with my mother's voice: "Everything you've become, everything you've ever done since I died was for one purpose. And now, that purpose is gone. You've failed to become the woman my daughter should have been. I disown you, forever."

A screaming noise rushed up to my ears from behind my head. I grunted and fell to the floor amidst my tears, pounding the closet doors with all my strength. "No, no, NO! I love you, mother? Why disown me? Everything I've done, ever, was for YOU!"

I stopped, got up, and collapsed back on my bed. Rin's voice came to my ears, without me even trying to think of it. It was something he said, not too long ago: "Like I said, I'm here to make you happy. PLEASE trust me, I'd do anything for you!"

I heard myself speak afterwards, my own voice ringing in my head: "You lying little CUNT! You lying little CUNT! You lying little CUNT!"

My grating damnation repeated several times in my head, and I was left with more unexplainable memories of things Rin had said, like, "I just wanted to wish you goodnight," and "Thanks Kaede-chan, I'll try not to let you down."

My breath hitched. I'd been wondering why I was having this mounting feeling of sadness…and it was…Rin? WHY? How cruel is that? Why would I feel mourning for my sworn enemy, my traitor of a friend, my despicably perverted housemate. SSSSSSS. DAMMIT!

Despite my own will not to, my shoulders began heaving with a will of their own, as Rin's voice surrounded me. "I'll never leave you, Kaede-chan…You look beautiful today, Kaede-chan…Thanks, Kaede-chan, I really appreciate it…"

"SHUT UP! JUST…JUST…SHUT UUUUP!" I snarled through my sobs. WHY, oh WHY did someone so evil have to be so damned nice to me? He's making me freak out with his kindness. I know he was just lying through his teeth when he said all those things, being that he was evil incarnate…but, unfortunately, some part of me must have naively believed him, which was why Rin's memory was tearing me apart at the moment.

The dam was breaking in my mind. The tears were flooding, but something worse was coming behind it. I was scared of what I might do, to, to Primula…to myself…I had to get help!

I swallowed, gasped, and ran, naked, over to Primula's room. I needed someone, anyone! I just had to be in someone's presence.

Please, please, please be awake, Primula…

Aha! She is! Wide, wide awake, by the looks of it. "…Hello, Mommy!" she said through her unmoving smile.

"Hi, Primu-chan!" I gasped, hardly in control of myself at this point, which was why I didn't really care that my boobs were hanging in plain view in front of Primula's face. "I…I'm sad about D(!)" I choked, unable to finish my sentence. I clambered on the bed with her, sobbing miserably like a lunatic. "C-c-can I sleep with you, Primu-chan?"

"Yes, Mommy," the now-creepy girl said, scooting over to make room for me. Creepy or not, I needed someone, ANYone to be with me, right then. She had to be the one.

Hmm…those bugs seemed to have infested her walls, too.

I swallowed and got under the covers next to her, holding the girl tightly in my arms.

"…I miss him, too, Mommy."

I ignored the spike of anger when she said that, knowing she was still in love with the evil man. "…I know, Primula…"

We fell asleep together…

* * *

I woke to the self-explanatory sound of Primula's tiny stomach growling at 7:00 in the morning. I made a small moan and wavered awake, at first totally unaware of my surroundings.

"I'm hungry," Primula said, directly in front of my face, causing me to jump. I realized, looking at her, that she looked a lot better today…either she had learned to hide the insidious face she was wearing like a mask yesterday, or she felt MUCH better. Whichever it was, it was good for going out in public, because, as I just realized…

…I know how to cook JACK shit.

* * *

Primula and I sat down at the table of my favorite café, which was surprisingly busy this morning. Two grown men who looked like ass-clowns, but whom I knew to be the rulers of the god and demon worlds because of their visit to my class, were eating breakfast with Nadeshiko (astonishingly) at the table right next to us.

I love the outfits of the waitresses here…I just keep waiting for Bark to ask me to get a job here, so I can steal one, take it home, and have him rape me up the ass while I'm wearing it…butt sex…it feels so GOOD, and in such a WRONG way. I love it.

"Your order, please, ma'am?" I jolted in my seat, realizing that the waitress was addressing me.

"Um, yeah…I'd like two steak omelets, please, one for each of us. Oh! And orange smoothies, too, please!" I said in my delicious-sounding voice…ahhh…sometimes I like taping myself read poetry, and then play it on a loop while Bark is fucking me…it's so hot.

Oh yeah! Primula's here! I shouldn't get wet right now…

After the waitress left, I cleared my throat and looked at Primula, who still looked very desperate and sad, but fortunately looked like a person, rather than a hideous mass murderer. "Hi, Primu-chan…" I began gently, reaching across the table and patting her hands. "…I just want you to know that, if there's ANYTHING at ALL that you want to do today, we can go do it, alright? My treat."

Her head raised slowly up to look at mine. "Thanks, but…I can't think of anything right now."

"That's okay, honey, that's okay! That's totally normal," I said warmly. Mom…I don't care if you don't want me as your daughter anymore…I WILL do you proud, I swear it! "…Did you know, Primu-chan, that I also got really, really depressed when I was your age?"

She shook her head no, and looked back down at the table.

"Um…I'm just saying, that I really understand what you're going through right now, and I am here for you for ANYTHING…I'll be at your beck and call from now on, just like Rin-kun, I mean! Daddy…used to be, okay?"

"Thank you Mommy, that's really…" she couldn't finish her sentence, due to an influx of visible grief on her face. And…there, it twisted again. Now it's hideous beyond recognition. She's really over the hump this time, probably even worse than I was.

"Primu-chan…" I said with sympathy. Suddenly, I had an idea! I reached my hand up my skirt and began tickling my clit. "You know, Primu-chan, one of the first ways that people usually try and get through their grief is by talking through what happened. Would you like to describe the scene in detail?" Pretty please, with a cherry on top?

Primula looked up at me, and gave a brief, but impactful, high-pitched laugh that chilled me, totally killing my libido. "…I was trying to save Rin from the water. He was hanging on the edge of a cliff, over some spikes." Ah, the construction yard. That would do the trick, wouldn't it? I playfully began petting my lips as Primula continued. "Rin was…hanging on just a little bit, and screaming with pain in his voice." Ooh, pain! Good! I dipped my fingers into my hot crotch. "He told me to leave, and to save myself, but I wanted to save him so…" Haaaahhhh…it's the holy death of Rin! Yay! So sexy… "I tried to grab his hands, but he jerked them right out of mine and came down onto the spikes." Primula looked back down and continued to smile dementedly as I enjoyed a few more circular strokes within.

"…Where did the spikes hit him?"

"Through his head and stomach…his head blew up…it was the most horrible, FUCKED UP thing I've ever seen!"

Her cursing drew me out of my masturbation session. I noticed that her head was cocked to the side and that drool was dumping out of it.

I knitted my eyebrows in concern for her mental well-being, and took a napkin to her lips to clean them.

She drew her lips back together so that her mouth looked slightly more normal, and she stared at me with unblinking eyes. "Mommy. Did you ever get over your mother's death?"

I paused and considered the question, looking at her as our food came and I muttered my thanks. "Well…no. I don't think so." Dammit! I didn't get to finish.

"I thought not," she said, followed with a guttural laugh that sounded like it should have come from a wild boar. I realized she probably wasn't laughing at me, that it was a symptom of her mental unease, but it still made me feel slightly mad myself.

As we dug into our food in silence, I heard the conversation the other table was having. The God King was saying, "We've been trying all night; every piece of Rin-dono's body was retrieved, but it was just too late. We gods are the masters of healing, after all; if all the power of heaven can't do it, then he's dead."

"Yes, I do see your point," Nadeshiko said, "And it makes the most sense, being that I've never heard of the demons healing anyone. Tell me, Forbesii-sama, why do you think that Tsucchi can be saved by your people?"

After a pause, Forbesii said, "Although the demons do not heal as a general rule, it doesn't mean that we are incapable of healing at all. We have our…methods…which, unfortunately, I am not allowed to discuss at this time. Rest assured, however, that Rin-kun will be alive and well, by the end of the day."

"I'm not so sure," Nadeshiko responded. "I've read a lot, and I mean, a LOT about demon history and culture. Healing is just NOT there. I've never heard a single whiff of something like this being done."

"If all the power and battalions of us gods couldn't save him, then there's no way your forces can, Forbesii…there's just no comparison," Eustoma added. "It's tragic, especially for our daughters, but…there's just nothing we can do."

"Suit yourself," Forbesii's reedy voice replied, and he excused himself from the table, walking past us with a bright wave directed at Primula.

"Oh, do you know him, Primu-chan?" I whispered to her as Eustoma and Nadeshiko continued discussing Rin's burial.

"I wish I didn't," was her answer, one that definitely had the Kaede stamp of approval.

After we finished and paid (I was sure to tip well so that I might get on their good side so I could get hired later), Primula and I were just out the door when a husky female voice stopped me by name.

"Yes?" I said, turning around and seeing my teacher walking towards me. "Oh, hello, Nadeshiko-sensei! It's a pleasure to see you today! I meant to say hi but it looked like you were…"

Without warning AT ALL, Nadeshiko abruptly punched me in the face. I flipped over backwards, my skull slamming against the wall. "AUGHH!" I coughed, dazed and VERY confused.

"Are you alright, Fuyou-san?" She said, dropping her hand down in front of my face. I swallowed, warily took it, and she assisted me in standing up.

"Wh-what's wrong?" I asked fearfully of my teacher, who looked totally in control despite the burning pain on my cheekbone saying otherwise.

She gazed at me with hard eyes, so that I had to look away with panic. She'd always seemed to like me before…

"Fuyou-san. Do you realize, now, what your actions have cost people who knew Tsucchi?"

"Umm…what are you talking about?" I asked, truly lost. She didn't know about stuff, did she? I wondered vaguely why there were so many tiny little bugs, looking almost like ticks, crawling all over her face.

"It's only a feeling, but…" she rubbed a hand through her hair distractedly. "You are the reason behind his unhappiness, right? I'm almost positive of it."

I looked at her in incredulity. "How could you possibly know ANYthing about me and Rin's relationship?"

"Should I take back my punch, then?" Nadeshiko said, looking at me curiously.

"Yes, please. I've done nothing wrong at all."

Her fist met the other side of my face this time, and I once again collapsed to the ground.

"Mommy, are you alright?" I heard Primula ask softly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I muttered, getting up and glaring at the bitch that kept hitting me.

"That's for lying," Nadeshiko said with a wink. "I'm sure you deserve much more, and not only from me."

"Did Rin-kun say something to you?" I said with a sneer. His pussy ass would do something like that.

"Are you serious? He wouldn't confide in me! You saw how scared he was of me…and of all women, for that matter."

"…That's true," I muttered. It did seem unlikely that he would tattle to Nadeshiko to whom he regularly cowered like a dog in fear.

"The fear of women must have derived from you, right?"

"…Doubt it. He was scared of everything." After I said this, I heard Primula make a growling sound. Damn, I should have been watching my words more closely…

"I won't pry, and won't tell anyone else. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't matter," Nadeshiko said mysteriously. "Especially for you. You're a little bothered by things already, aren't you?"

"Didn't you just say you wouldn't pry?" I spat at her. "What the fuck's your problem, messing in MY personal affairs?"

"I was just predicting, Fuyou-san. In the end, we'll see which of us was right, won't we?" the bitch of a teacher said. I'm asking for a class transfer. I don't need this kind of shit from a whore like her. "By the way, I'd like you to do something for me," she said as she began turning away.

I sighed. "What is it now?"

"Keep your attitude in check, Fuyou-san. I need you to pass this missive to the hospital staff, asking for Tsucchi's corpse to be moved to my house," she said, handing a rolled-up parchment up to me.

"Your house? Why?" I could hear the accusing tone in Primula's voice and was proud of her.

Nadeshiko looked at her with sadness in her eyes. "I don't trust Eustoma or Forbesii not to steal the body and bring it back to their own domains. We've been arguing all morning about his burial destination, and I believe that, since Tsucchi made no decision one way or the other over the two princesses, despite having promised several times to marry Sia and having set up a date with Nerine yesterday, as those two idiots kept reminding me, AND since he's never been outside the human realm before, I thought I would just take his body to my house for safekeeping, while I locate a proper burial location in town."

"…That sounds…good…" Primula said. I was still really pissed at Nadeshiko being a whorish bitch and didn't say anything. Her fucking breasts aren't even attractive at all. They're so big, they might as well be sandbags. I bet I could sit my hot ass on them and she wouldn't even feel a thing.

"So! Can I count on you two to take this to the hospital staff, and to tell all the girls there about this development?"

"Of course not!" I snorted.

"Yes, we'll do it," Primula said. Why the fuck is she going against me like this?

"Um, didn't you hear me, Primu-chan?" I asked with a sugar-sweet voice. "This isn't something that Mommy wants to do…"

She whipped her head around and grinned HUGELY at me, stopping my heart dead. "I believe you said you would do anything for me today, didn't you, Mommy."

I swallowed. "Yeah…but I'm still the parent…"

"This is the one thing I want," she said, ripping the missive out of my hand. "I'm doing it, with or without your consent." With that, the fucking little bitch walked away with pride in her step.

"Well…I daresay she takes after you, Fuyou-san," Nadeshiko said, patting me on the shoulder. "Try not to fuck up with her like you did with your other housemates, alright?"

I stood, fuming in spot, glaring at her turned back. I memorized her exact measurements. She would be my target tonight for my masturbation session…I would destroy her…in my bathtub. That fucking slut! I'd peel the skin off her forehead, and then rake her brain with my fingernails! I'd rip off her breasts and smother her face in their fatty blood while I destroy her back with my cleaver. I'd slash her stomach out with my boxcutter and beat her until she pissed uncontrollably into her own mouth through a hose!

"Mommy, are you coming?" Primula called.

"Yes, sweetie! Hold on!" I cried, running to catch up. I'd show that bitch; I'm perfectly qualified to be a good mother.

* * *

Upon arrival at the hospital, we first took care of the business with the missive. That was the easy part. Now, we had to do the messy side: dealing with all those sluts that Rin had been pimping this last month. As often happens with evil people throughout history, those sluts, whom I'm sure are all perfectly smart, great people, all fell for the charms of Rin's evil, and are now fiercely loyal to him, even in death.

Or, so I supposed, and I'm never wrong.

As we walked on up the stairs to the room where Rin's corpse lay, I sensed (or, continued to sense, I should say) some very bitter vibes from psycho-Primula.

"Listen, Primu-chan," I said sweetly, for I'm understanding of someone like her. I love her. She's just so adorable. "I'm sorry for what I said back there about Daddy. I was just all worked up because of my teacher beating me in the, um, freaking face, okay?"

"…I guess so…" Primula said quietly, sniffing and clenching her fists. "…I miss him…I still love him…can you help me? I feel so…burnt. And destroyed. I feel like…I'm the one that's dead…"

I smiled sympathetically. "Sure. I already told you, I'll do whatever I can, sweetie."

We arrived at room 246. "Well…I guess we're here," I said, her and I having stopped in front of the door. I looked to her and was surprised to see her shaking, an expression of extreme anxiety blatant on her face. "A-are you okay?" I asked with concern.

"I don't know if I can go in there, Mommy…his body…his dead, bloody, headless, body…it's right there…HAHA!...and it's…it's my fault! HAHA!"

It's her fault, huh? I remembered, or rather, my heart remembered, the pain that I felt, the maddening, suffocating pain I felt, from that same reason. I wanted to put a knife through my own head, I hated myself so much.

I gulped, feeling sorry for her and for myself. Thank the gods I got through it alright. Huh, I guess I did get over it somewhat, didn't I? At least, I'm a functioning member of society now.

"Don't worry, Primu-chan. There's always hope, okay?" I said with a pat on her shoulder.

"NO. HAHAHA! No…there…ISN'T! HE'S DEAD, HE'S DEAD, HE'S FUCKING…"

I clamped my hand over her stretched mouth. "Shhh, please don't…" I sighed, feeling for her. "Um, you can stay out here, if you would feel better that way. I'll just be in and out, I…"

"NO!" she shrieked, backing away and shaking my hand away."Don't leave me, Mommy, I can't stand this HAHA! pain I feel…"

"Okay…so…we're going in, then?" I asked her, uncertain about her ability to hide her schizophrenia or whatever in front of the gossipy sluts in the next room. She's a pretty good actress normally, but…she's not exactly Primula today.

"Um…" she was deep in thought.

I sighed. We couldn't be here all day. I needed to masturbate.

"Alright, how's about this, Primu-chan?" I said in a gamey voice, crouching down in front of her. "Why don't you start counting to fifty, okay? I promise I'll be back out before that count is done."

"Really?" she asked, followed by a hiccup. Her eyes were SOO red, today…I wonder if she slept at all last night.

"Really. I promise," I said kindly to her, patting her once more and sliding into the room alone. It was one of those big rooms packed with four rows of deceased bodies, which could be slid in and out of the wall. There was a glass divider splitting the bodies from where the people were supposed to view from.

There were two bodies out: Rin's, which had been completely restored to sickly white smoothness (no doubt the work of those damned gods who had been treating him all night), and Itsuki's…which, hilariously, was completely unhealed, like no one gave a damn about him at all. Ironic, because he was the better person of the two…yet another ironic truth within itself, since Itsuki was a flat-out retard. I hadn't realized that the poor idiot had died. That was too bad. Maybe I would give him a special masturbation session tonight, with only mild harm being done to him. Oh wait, I already had a date with Nadeshiko…

Regardless, I cleared my throat and announced to all the bitches in the room (Sia, Nerine, Asa for some reason, Sakura, the hideous Mayumi, and the gender-confused Matsuri) my message…Primula was waiting for me, after all.

"Ahem…Nadeshiko-sensei has sent me to tell all of you sl…people here that she is going to move Rin-kun's body to her house for safekeeping, because the two King's can't make any decisions unless they involve vaginas." Nerine narrowed her eyes at me from that one. "Thank you, have a nice day of mourn…" I trailed off as I realized that Sia, the one person on the other side of the glass, was currently trying to heal Rin back from the dead.

That…fucking…little…TRAMP! How dare she take my revenge away from me? That BITCH! I will beat her until she can't have children anymore!

I walked towards the entrance to the crypt when I was stopped by a guard who had so much acne that I didn't notice him before. "Excuse me, miss, but only one person is allowed…"

"Bite me, pepperoni!" I hissed, punching him in his nuts (EW! So soggy! ICK! I'm going to barf) and then drop kicked the back of his skull. He wouldn't be going anywhere.

That settled, I stalked in to pay Rin's corpse and Sia a visit. She had already noticed me, and was staring at me in wonder. "H…hi, Kaed…"

"Get away from my friend, slut," I growled, stopping a few feet in front of her to give her a fair chance to get away.

Her mouth fell open, eyes widened. Good, at least some people are aware enough to react properly to a threat. "Wh…why?"

Okay, what the fuck is up with everyone questioning me? I've known Rin the longest! I'm his goddess! I alone know what's best for him! And that's sweet death.

"He's dead, okay, Sia-chan? He's not coming back…why can't you just leave him and me in peace?" I shouted. Tears fell, unbidden out of my eyes. Damn it! Not now! I'm getting all emotional about the bastard again! Gods, I need to fuck someone, fast, before I start missing Rin again or something!

Sia misunderstood my tears, for she smiled (grossly benevolently) and began walking towards me to fucking hug me or something. Her hands had little black bugs crawling all over them.

I wasn't about to succumb to her idiocy. I have to protect morality! I'm the only one appointed to keeping the wicked at bay so that the justice may live in peace! Why can't anyone fucking understand that I'm doing them a favor and just move on from this wretched piece of shit evildoer?

I smacked her arms away and glared at her, feeling my eyes bugging out of their sockets. "Move on, Sia-chan…it's better to let him go, and find someone else. You don't know him the way I do…leave him and me alone, okay? This is your last warning, Princess." I saw Asa shake her head at me, through the window. What? You got something to say, lemming?

Sia smirked softly, in an expression that I suppose she thought was becoming (unfortunately, she has nothing in the beauty department, so it just looked ugly like the rest of her face), and said, "I can appreciate that, Kaede-chan, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to forgive myself if I don't try until all of my energy is depleted." She closed her eyes and went back to trying to heal him. I heard the others rushing into the room from behind me. I had to act now.

"That's funny, because I won't be able to forgive if you DO!" I laughed, and then launched at her, intending to do something nonlethal to apprehend her resurrection attempt.

All of a sudden my face slammed into a wall…that had somehow appeared between us? What was this? Some kind of cheap god battle trick? Huh…it's cold…and wet…taking a step back, I realized it was ice. A huge wall of ice had just appeared out of nowhere. What the fuck. Taking a look at Sia's face through the transparent wall, she appeared just as confused as I did…and she can't act like I can, so it couldn't have been her.

I turned around and saw Primula looking up at me, her eyes blood red, but mouth under control. Her hand was stretched into the ice, seemingly the source of it.

"Primu-chan! Is this your magic? What are you doing here?" I asked as my heartbeat slowed down.

"I counted till 80, and you weren't there. I wanted to be by you," Primula commented, staring at me with those bright reds. "But remember, Mommy, you have to be nice, okay? Even if you get upset."

I smiled and laughed sadly. She was right. Maybe I'm not as good of an actor as I think.

Breathing out slowly, I flitted my eyes towards the other sluts that had come running towards me (Sakura hadn't shown up, for some reason, remaining curled up in a ball on the other side of the glass, the overemotional cunt). They all looked decrepitly depressed about Rin's passing, as in on the brink of desperation. Oh well. I'll let them think they've lost someone worth mourning about. It's their fucking time they're throwing around, not mine.

"So, yeah," I said, paying no mind to the wordless stares I was getting. "Nadeshiko-sensei's going to be taking him away some time today…"

A remarkably familiar voice groggily responded, "But what if I don't want to go…?" A male voice. Who the fuck?

I swiveled, wide-eyed, around to see Rin STIRRING from his FUCKING DEATHBED!

**

* * *

A/N: **Alright! And Rin returns as primary narrator next chapter! Stay tuned for explanation and plot twists ahoy! R&R, please. =)


	8. Chapter 8

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 8**

**A/N: **One might notice when reading the newer chapters of the story (especially concerning these next two) that the plot seems to be deviating from its perceived center, which is most certainly the conflict/relationship between Rin and Kaede. The reason for this webbing-out is because I think that it's important to explore the ins and outs of Rin's daily life in order to achieve a sense of perspective that I hope will be useful in our analysis of changes in his character in later chapters. So, while much of this may seem haphazard or filler-ish (and I'm not saying it's not), it actually is purposeful and supposed to serve the goal of further laying down an establishment for the status of Rin's life.

Whew! Writing's hard!

Once again, I've been working on this chapter for far longer than I wanted to. I have a full-time internship this summer that demands much of my creativity and time, so it's a little difficult to find the time and energy to write. I will keep writing as much as I can, though, and I don't intend to ever give up on this story.

I'd also like to give a hearty thanks to all the reviewers who have taken the time to give me feedback! It gives me MUCH more drive to write, which is very appreciated.

There are several OC's with bit parts in the chapter, which I know is hypocritical since I don't like OC's in fanfiction for the most part. However, I enjoyed implementing them where I did, and rest assured that they will never appear again outside this chapter (except possibly with tiny, cameo-sized appearances here and there).

Lastly, there's a couple citrus-drenched events in this chapter, and several sexually charged situations. ^_^ So, be forewarned!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shuffle! or any of its associated franchise products. If I did, I would make a real season 2 already!

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

I began to awaken…if one could call it that…but it was a very difficult process, as if my head were submerged in a waterfall and it was supposed to rise, of its own will, against the pressure and gravity, to the precipice. I felt like someone had punched me with a bowling ball on the end of their fist.

My first sense alerting me of several others' close proximity was my sense of smell. Girls…lots of them…had congregated near me, wherever I was.

What was going on? Where had I just been? My mind was a murky mess.

My eye, dry as granola, crinkled as I opened it. Blinking several times, it perceived that I was, indeed, surrounded by girls, all of whom looked positively ecstatic and surprised (except Kaede), which is bad news for me in almost any situation.

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to go back to sleep…

"RIN-KUN! You're alive? That's aMAZing…that's SO great, I just…" Sia apparently couldn't contain her excitement anymore and ruined my plans for a nap. I screamed in alarm at the mounting likelihood of imminent feminine contact. She continued, "Ooh, I don't…how is this…AUGH, I WISH I COULD HOLD YOU!"

"YES!" Nerine erupted, the loudest I'd ever heard her speak, as Mayumi and Matsuri both acted juvenile and ridiculously excited. Asa seemed to be taking pains to contain herself, while Primula stood frozen with her jaw hung open. Kaede looked like she was trying with all her might to suppress the urge to violently explode (emphasis on the 'violently').

"W-what do you mean, alive? Don't you mean awake?" I asked, confused, as Primula launched herself on top of me with an uncharacteristic squeal. It was then that I realized I was stark naked, with only a thin white plastic sheet covering my crotch. "Oh, perfect," I moaned as the girl tangled herself up with my right side in affection. I immediately noticed something was different; the fear was still there, the anxiety…but Primula's touch wasn't physically paining me at all! I was intrigued, and greatly weirded out; I couldn't remember the last time a girl touched me without myself experiencing a painful physical manifestation of my fears. So strange…it had seemingly lost all of its toxic quality overnight! All that was left was the soft, reassuring pleasure of Primula's body…draped around me…

WHOA THERE, SNAP OUT OF IT, SELF!

Eyes bugging, I tapped my glass one back into its socket as I tried to recollect what had happened to land me in this…place. The girls chattered in euphoria to me as I sat in bashfulness at my nudity and Primula's parasitism.

That's it! There was the flood…it was like a nightmare had erupted all around me…Primula's heart-stopping face…I fell…onto the spikes.

I…died…?

"H-how am I alive?" I asked everyone, trying to shake Primula's fastened hands off my torso.

"We don't know, but it's the most wonderful thing that could have possibly happened!" Sia shouted, launching herself to my other side as well, further loosening the plastic slip just barely covering my crotch. UGH! What's Kaede going to think?

"Watch out, you're…" I gasped, arching my hips to try and protect my decency…until I noticed, with full attention to detail, that Sia's touch (And WHAT a touch it was! Compared to the feel of Sia's body, Primula might as well have been made out of plastic. Oops, I MEAN…*cough* Sia is very warm, voluptuous, and simply exhilarating to have intertwined with my left side) didn't hurt me at all! I had full rights to treasure it! Certainly, I was afraid and confused, but, MAN…I never knew someone else touching me could feel so purifying and holy!

…THIS IS AWESOME!

"Well I can see someone got what she wanted," Kaede muttered caustically. Oh wait, Kaede still exists. I wonder why the bitch even bothered showing up at all.

"So…I DID die, then?" I asked in disbelief. "How long have I been out?"

"I love you, Rin-kun," Sia breathed with volcanic passion in my left ear, making me blush deep scarlet.

"Just one night. I told everyone, after I found you," Asa said, casting a look at Kaede momentarily. "Except Kaede-chan, since I figured Primula-chan would take care of things." She looked down at the bouquet of flowers she was holding. "Well…I was going to give you these flowers…but it looks like you don't deserve them anymore!" Asa laughed, tossing them behind her.

"I can still take 'em," I smiled. "Just cuz I'm not dead doesn't mean I don't want them!"

"Wow, you like flowers?" Kaede sneered.

Suddenly, I heard rustling from my right, so I turned to look for the source…

Itsuki, equally naked as I, popped straight up from out of seeming death. "I'm here, and I'm queer!" He looked around and saw the girls crowded around me. "Oh, hey, chicks! And…Rin-kun…(he glared at me momentarily)…what's going on, o beautiful assortment of temptresses? OOH! ARRGHH…UNGH…AH! What's this pain…why do I have all these scars over my beautiful body? EEP! I'm BLEEDING!"

"Uh-oh! I better go help him," Sia said in her addictively sunny voice, smiling at me as she slid over my bare body (Oh, dear gods…SO much touch with someone SO gorgeous…it's like I'm committing heresy or something) to go heal him.

Almost immediately, an onslaught of potent pheromones alerted me to Nerine's impending approach to take Sia's place. "Rin-kun," she purred, voice thick with so much fascination with me that I couldn't help but choke with embarrassment, especially since Kaede was here (she was going to DESTROY me later). Nerine's celestial, mystical beauty coiled gently around her face as she moved her head towards mine.

"Rin-kun…aaaaahhh…" she breathed in her sacred voice as she pressed her face into mine (at which point I couldn't breathe and stared back at her in panic), and then climbed into the bed with me, first smooshing her, um, breasts into my face (I'm not even going to try and describe THAT mind-annihilating-with-awe-and-worship experience), then repositioning herself so that she was straddling my legs and holding my hips close to her. As my heart hammered like a drunken railroad worker, she moaned again and brought her face back up to mine, just holding it against me.

By this time, naturally, my entire body was such a deep cherry red from blushing that I thought I was going to evaporate. I'm not used to being…liked…this much…it's kind of insane to even get my head around, that someone could like me as much as Nerine did. I'm so used to being despised by everyone…I don't even want to acknowledge the fact that she likes me, just because I don't know what to think of it. How; just…HOW…could this, the most imbued-with-beauty being I've ever met, love me THIS much?

As I looked anywhere else (no longer trying to disguise my crotch which was now buried securely under Nerine's soft leg), as well as giving Kaede a look of apology, I noticed a GIANT wall of melting ice.

"What…the HELL…is that?" I asked in astonishment with regards to the out-of-place structure, unfortunately cursing while surrounded by so many women just oozing perfection (sorry! sorry!). Dear GODS, Nerine's breasts are engulfing my arm! Somebody please help me before I have a seizure or something. WAAYYY too much pleasure happening on the left side of my body right now…not to mention I can feel Kaede's penetrating glare of doom burning into my skull.

"I made it," Primula said, opening her eyes (I saw, with a spasm of my heart, that her corneas had turned ruby red since my death). "But I'm not sure how. Do you like it?"

"Um, y-yes, it's very impressive, Primu-chan," I said softly, unable to look away from her now-demonic eyes.

Mayumi coughed. "Primula-chan, I think it's time you gave Rin-kun some time to breathe…"

"YES! Thank you Mayumi-chan! You are my savior!" I cried as my very best friend in the whole world peeled the grabby demon off me. Mayumi gave me a look that seemed a cross between several emotions that I couldn't quite put a name to. I wondered what her deal was…she'd been acting quite weird since the whole Princess betrothal thing happened.

Without even five seconds passing of my right side being exposed to the air, Matsuri sprinted over and threw herself on me in a hug. "Rin-kun! You're alright! I'm sorry, I know you don't like girls, but…I'm just so glad…I didn't think I'd ever be able to talk to you again…"

"I-it's okay, Matsuri-kun…" I said shakily, trying not to pay any attention to my friend's ample body curvature pressed tightly against me. Man…if I was a pervert, this would probably be my single favorite day ever. Unfortunately, I'm not, and so I was stuck trying not to think of Matsuri in compromising ways…

Kaede cleared her throat, abruptly ending my appreciation for the female gender. "Well, I hate to spoil the party, but I think I'd better leave and take Itsuki-kun to his home. On the way out I can cancel that…missive…" she trailed off as the room full of teens looked to the door opening to reveal Nerine's father coming through, head held high.

"That won't be necessary, Kaede-chan," Forbesii said, winking at her. (She looked liable to throw up in response) "I'm going to take Itsuki-kun and Rin-dono under my roof for the rest of the day."

"Oh, cool! I've never been inside your house before, Nerine-chan!" Asa remarked in excitement as Nerine and Matsuri grudgingly disconnected their bodies from mine and looked up.

"Oh! I see you're flirting your way into Rin-dono's future with great success, Nerine-chan!" Her skin flushed in response. "And, unfortunately, you sexy green-haired temptress, (Asa looked like she was trying to hold back a laugh) only the two men and Nerine may attend, as the information I am about to divulge to them is top secret…"

"That's right, I'M important!" Itsuki reminded us as Sia finished healing him.

"Yes," she said coddlingly, "You just keep telling yourself that, m'kay?" Heehee. I love Sia.

Matsuri was kind enough to lend me her (rock-hard) arm to aid me in getting up. It was so weird…touching girls was on the house again! Well that's helpful…I suppose. Suddenly my life seemed a little less dark.

As Itsuki and I got our bearings (Kaede assisted him for some reason, probably because she was too angry to even remain in my presence any longer; Matsuri refused to hand me over to anyone else, and so shared my weight with Nerine), Sakura meekly approached us, looking MUCH worse for the wear. Her hair was tangled, clothes were disheveled, and her mascara was running like she had just come from a funeral. Of course, because it was Sakura, her fragile beauty melted through even more potently, and made me want to run up and give her a hug before she collapsed or something.

"H-hey, Sakura, are you al-" I gently began.

"Rin-kun…" she spoke in loud, hushed tones. "…you're…alive…?" Looking shocked stiff, Sakura's hunched body softly collided with my bare chest, on which she buried her face in my heartbeat.

I held her as tenderly as possible and brushed her messy navy blue hair with my fingers. "It seems like it," I murmured.

"Ready to go, Rin-dono?" Forbesii asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I said, gently massaging the back of Sakura's shoulder (to which she softly moaned and buried her face deeper in my chest, hugging me back).

"So, wait…I died?" Itsuki pondered aloud.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

As quickly as I could, I excused myself from the company of those tragic retards. How could they be so…

IGNORANT?

I seethed with rage, groaning out physical bursts of anger, as I ran my nails long and justly down the length of the alleyway next to the hospital.

What the fucking fuck? He was DEAD! I was free! The fuck was THAT? Is NO one else weirded out that the most evil guy in Japan is the only person besides fucking JESUS to ever come back from the fucking dead?

My world sloshed together like someone had thrown up all over my eyes. My rage discolored and murked everything into one giant, barftastic swirl as I groaned out my damned HATRED for that nutless boy.

When my knees hit the trash cans at the end of the walk, I turned around, stretched out my arms and carved my nails on the bricks on the way back, too, taking in every ounce of the sweet pain and expelling it out of my shredded vocal cords.

Why…did those…IDIOTS have to upset the judgment that fate had bestowed upon the wicked? I mean, FUCK! WHY? I could have FINALLY been free; to live the normal, unrestrained life that I deserve to have!

I noticed a puppy looking up at me. He yipped once, wagging his little pussy tail.

"Fuck you, you little SHIT!" I burped in fury, taking up a rusty sawblade off the ground and swinging it violently down through the dog's cranium. My body then took over and became a brutal channel for my rage, as I continued bashing and bashing the fucking thing's body.

"WHY? WHY? WHY'S HE STILL ALIVE?" Blood sprayed on my face with each descending chop. I didn't stop, I couldn't, my body was so possessed by anger and hatred. At last, when I finally sank the blade into my own foot to get myself to stop, what was once a puppy was now just a quivering collection of punctured, uncontained organs splattered on the ground.

I ran a hand through my greasy hair and buried my tender eyes in my elbow, pressing until I could feel my eyes screaming out in pain. "Why…do I feel so happy…?" I whispered. The strangest thing is…I'm happy that Rin's alive. It makes me physically ill to even think about, but I'm legitimately goddamned RELIEVED that the goddamned bastard is still alive. Why the fuck would I think that? I hate the bitch, don't I?

As I looked with disgust at the grime on the alleyway floor, I heard a car pull up and screech to a stop immediately in front of the alleyway. I continued to stare at the horrific result of my sins until I noticed an eerily peculiar, rhythmic sound emanating from the still-running car. I looked up, and a chill gripped the back of my skull from the sight.

A twenty-something woman was sitting at the front wheel of the convertible, looking straight at me, laughing EXTREMELY hysterically. She just couldn't stop. She was cross-eyed, but I could tell she was looking at me…her truly disfigured face bobbed up and down in time with her hoarse laugh that just kept going on and on, without hardly making a sound. Her fat cheeks flapped, her entire face was crinkled in contortion, and every time I looked at those eyes, I just felt the doom of fate spike me in the heart. I couldn't take it.

A chill ran up my spine, which resulted in a gagging feeling in my throat. I had to get away, but the only way was past that…thing…

Dripping sawblade in hand, I broke eye contact and walked quickly around the corner, trotting down the street to try and get away as fast as I could.

"Sorry, sorry, comin' through, excuse me," I said to the fucking shoppers going down the fucking sidewalk. I HAD TO GET AWAY!

To my disbelief, I heard the car pull up again, RIGHT FUCKING NEXT TO ME.

Hah, huh, hh, hh…hah, huh, hh, hh…she just kept going and going, bobbing that fucking disturbing head, LAUGHING at me.

"Go away," I whispered, chancing a look at her, tears obscuring my vision. I was astonished at how truly dilapidated she was…a sticky coating dripped from the fat flaps on her face, bugs were crawling all over her face, in and out of her eye sockets, and she was looking RIGHT at me, doing her creepy ass laugh. Gods.

"Stop it. Please! Just go away!" I begged her. I can't take it! My sanity doesn't have much gas left in its tank for stuff like this. I wondered if she could even hear me, she was laughing at me so hard.

Hah, huh, hh, hh…hah, huh, hh, hh…

I started to cry, and sucked on the dirty end of the saw as my shoulders shook, the monstrous girl stalking me all the way back home.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

As I walked very self-consciously in the company of the serene princess of the demons, I realized that, if I truly had been raised from the dead, with the ability to have full, unrestrained contact with women, then it seemed like I ought to re-evaluate the entire way I felt and perceived the world. Truly this was something that was a blessing and a curse. My heart thumped with the allegro beat of someone gazing upon heaven's gates for the first time…I was in heaven now…with all the deadly snares that come with that arrival.

From now on, if the girls knew that they could touch me and not harm me, I would have to be more careful than ever. Things could get really messy REALLY fast if I wasn't wise in my actions.

I snuck a furtive look at the glorious visage of Nerine. She smiled at me perkily, which made my blood chill with fearful shyness.

Feeling the heat all over my body, I tried my hardest to get a sentence out to the most beautiful girl on the face of the planet. "(Swallow) Um, h-h-h-h-h-h (Facepalm) How are you doing today, Nerine-chan?"

"I'm doing good, how about you?" Nerine said in an abundantly relaxed voice that made me just want to piss myself with adoration.

"Man, that was a TERRIBLE start to your flirting, Rin-kun," Itsuki snorted.

"Why don't you go stalk someone else?" I said with a glare.

"IIII don't think so. You see, Nerine-chan," he began, slapping his nutsack.

"Yes, stupid?" Nerine responded.

"You know, all this walking, with…only wearing a labcoat and a plastic loincloth…it's got me thinking…"

"Uh, Itsuki-kun, I wouldn't…"

"No, no, just-just-just wait a minute, Rin-kun," Itsuki interrupted me. "So Nerine-chan, how would you like to suck my dick? Not that much, you understand, just till my balls get wet!"

Nerine blinked, and Itsuki's head immediately lit on fire, blazing like an inferno.

After about five seconds of my friend screaming torturously, Forbesii casually mentioned, "Do you think that's enough, Nerine-chan?"

She shrugged. "I suppose he can get off with just a warning this time." With another blink, a bubble of water formed in midair and wrapped around Itsuki's body and lifted his flailing form into the air.

"That is some impressive magic, Nerine-chan!" I cheered.

"Thanks!" she beamed.

Itsuki managed to break a hole in the bubble with his foot, and his ride popped accordingly, dropping him to the ground from a height of about 15 feet.

"At least my balls got wet!" he laughed, giving me a thumbs up.

Well…remind me never to ask Nerine for any impromptu oral favors.

"So, Rin-kun," Nerine continued as if nothing had happened, smiling up at me with beauty that made everything else seem like it didn't exist. "Did you know that I'm going to go out for the track team?"

"Really? That's awesome!" I said, trying to display as much support as possible for the arresting vision who happened to be my fiancée. "Is running something you like to do?"

"Oh, not really," Nerine giggled. "I just thought that I might as well do something to lose some weight, while competing at the same time."

"Um…" I said, sneaking a look down at her body, trying my best not to think of her compromisingly. Nerine's attire at the moment left extraordinarily little to the imagination. Especially her undersized, super-thin white tank top. The silk, black miniskirt was an alluring addition as well…I'm not a pervert but…she looked downright spellbinding today.

"Well…" I continued, now quite red-faced and looking straight ahead, "I'm pretty sure you look fantastic the way you are right now."

"Oh, don't be so nice," Nerine laughed gorgeously.

"No, I'm really serious," I said. "You're…PERFECT. I don't think there's a more beautiful form out there than yours, anywhere."

"Really?" she breathed, looking wide-eyed up at me.

"So," Itsuki said to Forbesii. "Did you catch last week's episode of How to Look Good Naked?"

* * *

In a few minutes, we arrived at Nerine's house, which I'd never set foot in before. I paused in trepidation at the doorstep to the elaborate gothic building, unsure of what awaited me inside a Demon building. (I'm not prejudiced against Demons, granted, but I also know that they get into some WEIRD mystical stuff)

"Come on, Rin-kun," Nerine whispered with soothing eyes as Itsuki marched right past her, taking care to brush up against her enormous(ly awesome) posterior on the way in.

I gave a shaky grin back and followed inside, my hand delicately in hers.

The place looked just as noble and prestigious from the inside. Gaping, spacious rooms greeted my eye, swathed in a sleepy mixture of gold, amber, royal purple, and blue. Tiny trickling streams of water ran serenely throughout every room in runic shapes on the floor. It was truly awe-inspiring, and a little nerve-wracking, to find myself there.

"Rin-kun," Nerine whispered. "Are you feeling better about girls touching you now?"

"Y-yeah, you noticed?" I said, my voice cracking pathetically.

"Ohhhh," she said, looking at me and blinking a lot, displaying a rare glimmer of anxiety. "So…does that mean…we won't need to do the training session anymore?"

Oh, right, I forgot I made a date with Nerine to, um, practice…touching…each other…Well, being that I'm getting nervous just thinking about it, I should probably try to weasel out of it somehow.

"…Um…d…" As soon as I turned to her again, my will to resist departed entirely. "D-don't worry about it, we can still do something like that." …I'm an idiot. How the hell am I supposed to touch the mirror image of Aphrodite without shooting myself in the face out of pathetic inadequacy?

She blushed deeply and fidgeted with the ribbon in her hair.

"Ah, finally!" Forbesii stated, turning around and calmly regarding Nerine and I (and ignoring Itsuki, who was crouched over a river, repeatedly poking the water with great interest). "We can now talk in private!"

"Okay, sounds good," I said, folding my arms and trying to command my heart to stop thundering. "Because I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, first take a seat on the couch here," Forbesii invited us, and so Nerine and I obediently went over to the furniture (which was more a loveseat than a couch), and squished together next to Itsuki.

"Ooh, I'm liking this!" Itsuki erupted as soon as Nerine squeezed between us. "Nerine-chan, you're so pretty!"

She gave him a condemning look and promptly got up, walked in front of me, and proceeded to sit down on my lap, which felt AMAZING. My entire pelvis was enshrouded in her truly remarkable butt. It felt like 50 times better than the most amazing pillow in the world.

I gave an involuntary squawk out of the rapid influx of pleasure.

"Are you alright?" she murmured, trying to readjust her enormous caboose farther up my thighs and scootching around accordingly (which continued to give me jolts of shockingly intense pleasure). "Your heart's beating so fast…" she continued to me.

"Y-yeah, I'm sorry 'bout that," I said gently, anxiously wrapping my arms around her waist to try and help her feel more secure. My heart was NOT calming down, and worse, I was starting to have some biological activity down in my nether regions. I gulped and squeezed her stomach harder as I concentrated on not getting a boner. What made this even more difficult than before was that, judging from the seeping strength of her pheromones' scent, Nerine was feeling some very sexual vibes at the moment.

"Hey, no fair!" I heard Itsuki say. "I don't have anyone on my lap."

"Well, I can sit there, if you want," Forbesii invited. Nerine crinkled her nose cutely at this.

"Sure! Park it right here, pappy!" Itsuki said, slapping his thigh.

After Forbesii had sat securely on Itsuki's junk, he looked over to us. "Now, let us begin; Rin-dono, Itsuki-kun, are you familiar with the Demon's classification of the five different pylons of the soul?

"Do what?" Itsuki asked.

"Nope," I responded.

"Well normally, as humans, you wouldn't need to be concerned with something operating on such an intangible level. However, this scientific theory is what has brought the two of you back from the dead, albeit with some help from magic and a particular artifact, of course."

"A-alright," I said, my heartbeat still drowning out Forbesii's voice. Right now, I hardly gave a shit at all about my resurrection process; a girl who should, by all rights, be completely forbidden territory due to her status, birthright, and mind-blowing looks, was sitting on my lap in a black silk miniskirt! It felt SOOOOOO good. Guiltily good, but still terrific. I'd always vaguely wondered what a girl's butt would feel like when it was completely engulfing my crotch…but I had NO idea it would be THIS catastrophically pleasurable. I could actually feel my heartbeat through Nerine's slender waist, mine was so ferocious.

"Anyway," Forbesii continued, and I tried to concentrate on the sound of his voice. "There are, as I mentioned, five pylons that compose a person's soul. These are: the Doki, the Yume, the Kage, the Hi, and the Yokubo. Now, what parts of your soul each of these align with aren't too important, but the Hi is the pylon through which resurrection can be accomplished."

"…Okay…" I heard Itsuki say.

Nerine meanwhile shifted her butt around some more, which felt really…really…good…and before I knew it, I had gotten very hardheadedly aroused. Nerine gave an enticing gasp with her exquisite voice as my dick hardened up into her shapely butt. Needless to say, Itsuki and her dad noticed this.

"…You know what _that _sounds like!" Itsuki commented.

"Someone's having a good time!" Forbesii laughed.

"I…um…we're…good," I said breathily, my face strawberry-red, even as Nerine gave another aroused moan. She smelled deeply intoxicating, now, and even had the audacity to lift her butt up and slap it back down on my (probably uncomfortable) lap a couple of times. Clearly, the gorgeous being was only just barely hanging in control (knowing that it was caused by me was both flattering and embarrassing).

"Well, I'll continue then, if you'd like," Forbesii said, apparently totally at ease with his daughter's sexual activities. "As I was saying, there is a certain strand of DNA found in only 0.00001% of all demon children that is the basis for the resurrection process through the Hi pylon."

"Uh-huh," I said, not really listening as Nerine began running her fingers and palms up and down the sides of my thighs (this did not do much to terminate my arousal).

"This strand is called Obsidian-D, and it is so rare that, naturally, many scientists who are more skeptical of magiscience have often questioned its existence. This strand is, unfortunately, non-replicable through any known strand-cloning techniques, which makes it extremely valuable."

"Okay," I said. Nerine lifted up her hips (gradually and passionately this time) and lowered them caressingly so that my dick slid just perfectly up her asshole, albeit through her skirt. This produced a noticeable gasp out of her mouth. For my part, I was trying with all my might to make myself go down, but it just wasn't happening…especially now that her anus was repeatedly tightly clenching me.

"Due to its value, I had to own it, of course. And since you are so valuable to me, my daughter, obviously," he laughed here at the two of us sweating madly and stacking like lego blocks, "and the entire Demon Realm as its future king, I was happy to use the only strand of Obsidian-D known to be in existence right now, just to bring you back."

"Well, what about me? Did just one strand bring back both of us?" Itsuki pondered. Nerine shot me a look filled to the brim with white-hot desire, took her hands off my legs, and wrapped them tenderly around my hands (which had been around her waist). She slowly began to raise them upwards, and I began to panic…I didn't want to go that far this quickly with her; she's very precious to me, and I want to treat her as such.

"Well, yes, actually. You see, we know that you're a friend of Rin-dono's, and as such, we wanted to save you for his sake."

"Rin-kun, you're a bro!" Itsuki said to me, holding out a thumbs-up.

"So, we retrieved all of your bodily organs and fluids using my magic, and brought the two of you back to the hospital. Theory postulated that one strand of Obsidian-D could resurrect two people successfully, but, through its nature of reviving using the Hi pylon as a base for reconstruction of life, it would have the side effect of slightly blending the two Hi portions of the patients' souls."

Ah, so maybe that's why I was enjoying Nerine sitting on my lap so much. I have a little bit of Itsuki in me now.

Waaaiiiiiit…

I shook my hands free of Nerine's loving clasp so I could concentrate better. "How much blending happened, do you know?"

"I have no idea, Rin-dono," Forbesii stated. "Being that this is possibly only the second time that this practice has ever occurred, research is slim on its effects. However, rest assured that both of you have a guaranteed 80% of your original souls still in your possession, with 20% from each of the other four pylons. You also have a probable additional 10% of your original Hi pylon intact, as well."

"So…I'm now 10% Itsuki…" I said, feeling quite depressed. I knew I shouldn't, since I was alive and Nerine was feeling very frisky and my penis was inside her, but…Itsuki's lifestyle was always SUCH the opposite of what I wanted to do with my own life that I couldn't help but feel like I was now slightly doomed (Of course, I was still in euphoric amounts of pleasure at the moment).

"So we're like actual BROTHERS now, huh? That's awesome, Rin-kun!" Itsuki cheered, slapping me on the shoulder.

"Yayy," I said, trying to be sarcastic, but probably not succeeding since I was wearing a huge smile from arousal.

Forbesii smiled. "Are there any other questions you have, Rin-dono? I could tell you about the ritual, if you want."

I tried to reign in my hyperactive sense of touch in order to respond. "Well, I might have some for you later, but…would you mind reconvening at a later date?" Nerine had taken to being very snuggly in the last minute, curling her neck and curving her back in various positions around the edges of my body, always wrapping her arms passionately around me in some way. Her movements were also accompanied by slight shifts in the positioning of her anus, which currently contained my dick; as such, I was now just barely containing my semen. She was SO sexy, I didn't even know what to DO about her. I wasn't going to be able to contain myself for another 15 seconds.

"Rin-kun…" Nerine said, her lips brushing my cheek as she moved them. "Do you want to go back to my room?"

That was a definite NO at the moment. I didn't want to defile her precious, astounding body any more than I already had.

"Th-that's okay, Nerine-chan…" I said softly, turning to her. This, as always, was a mistake, because my heart stopped due to looking into her eyes. "Maybe next time?" I whimpered, my hand accidentally dropping to her lap, which was VERY hot and damp.

"Okay, you're right," she breathed, combing my hair lovingly with her fingers. I thought it would never happen (and didn't 100% want it to stop, either), but she finally got up off my crotch, which was now easily the single most noticeable feature of my body, sticking out as it did.

"Well done, Nerine-chan," Forbesii said, patting her on the shoulder. She shook her head and excused herself to go to the restroom.

"Man, Rin-kun! I didn't know you were packing such a large sandwich there! Well done, indeed!" Itsuki said.

"…Please don't ever say anything like that ever again," I said, trying to stop blushing as I commanded myself to GO DOWN.

"Well, if you'd like to borrow some of my clothes, gentlemen, you are most certainly welcome to," Forbesii invited. "Would you be interested?"

"Yes sir," I said.

"No way, man, I like this little plastic loincloth," Itsuki said, swiveling his hips to slap himself around experimentally. "The chicks are going to EAT this UP! And Rin-kun…"

"What's up?" I said hesitantly, adding a "Thanks" to Forbesii as he handed me a black uniform.

"You better pick a chick fast, man, because otherwise it's not fair to me! I mean, don't worry about the ones you don't pick, I'll take REAL good care of them, you can count on me!"

Needless to say, that didn't make me feel very confident of leaving them in his care.

As soon as I could, I excused myself from the house to return home next door, taking care to wait outside the door until there was no trace of a boner left visible before I went inside.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Without warning, a stampede of heartbeats from within my chest woke me. The pain was unbearable.

I looked around in panicked distress (for no particular reason) and realized that I had woken up on the floor in Rin's room, oddly.

The place was still a mess from my celebration last night…and since no one had seen fit to clean up all of my celebratory poop, it was still smeared on the furniture and smelling truly rancid.

I realized that it was strange that Rin wasn't here…maybe he wasn't yet home. That fucker…that perverted, dirty, slimy, twisted fucker. He was probably still off with Nerine, fucking her thoughtlessly like a sex-starved pig.

Damn him to hell. He is MY servant, so he should be here taking care of ME! I don't let him stay here for free just out of the benevolence of my motherfucking heart! DAMMIT! Why is he such a worthless, pathetic excuse for a human?

"BASTARD!" I seethed, punching another hole in his model ship. "Why are all men such…BASTARDS?"

As I caught my breath, gripping the edge of Rin's desk tightly, I realized something was disturbing about this situation; when had Rin become so important to me? Why was I feeling so possessive about someone I hated so much?

I ran my hand down along the grains of his desk tenderly. What the hell was wrong with me lately? I'd been insulted, criticized, abandoned, and betrayed by this horny faggot, and still I was obsessing over his whereabouts? Why would I possibly want him here with me, when he was the sole cause of my precious mother's death? Damn it, damn it, damn it!

I walked over to his bed and stared at the shit-splattered pillow that had previously been intimate with the back of his head, wondering what I would think upon seeing it. My thoughts were suddenly alien, mysterious to me…I found myself wondering what had happened to the innocent, naïve, pure boy from my childhood, the one that this pillow once belonged to. Now, if he decided to stay at the demons' house, he may never come to use this pillow again.

A lump formed in my throat, and I could feel myself getting agonizingly emotional. I realized that some part of me wanted him back, in this bed, for whatever reason…maybe it was just nostalgia, or a desire for maintaining the status quo, but at that moment I really, REALLY wanted Rin back in the house…in his bed…with me on top of him…

I shook my head as violently as I could to get rid of the idea of fucking him. It would be very sinful to imagine sexually pleasuring my mother's murderer…not to mention, he's a dirty, ugly slut that will fuck ANYthing that moves AND he's my childhood friend; practically my brother at that.

I shivered, but at the same time, almost subliminally, the desire for him to be there with me got even stronger. Whimpering and longing for a trace of him, I leaned forward and buried my face in the pillow…totally without thinking.

And as a result, smeared day-old shit all over my face.

"DAMN IT! FUCK! SHIT!" I belched as I sprinted to the bathroom to get my own fucking shit off my precious face.

I looked up to the mirror and suddenly experienced a loss of balance, nearly keeling right over on my giant, sexy ass.

Gasping, I felt my way over to the medicine cabinet, feeling truly, awfully fucked up. Everything inside me and outside me was going to hell…and it was all because of HIM! Rin is the reason my life fucking sucks ass!

"FUCKING SHIT!" I roared at the lifeless cabinet, grabbed the bottle of rubbing alcohol and took four long droughts, savoring the horrid burn and taste of the abusive chemicals. I HAD to get fucked up, any way I could. I wanted to feel the pain of poison corroding through every organ of my body, all the way down through my intestines. I NEED THE FUCKING DAMAGE!

I took another sip and winced at the torturous flavor this time. My body burned in retaliation but I told it to fuck off. Damn all those fucking sluts for worshipping that damned Rin's tiny dick. Damn Rin for being a fucking douche bag slut whore. Damn my boyfriend for being a gigantic, brain-dead waste of space. Damn ME for being so dependent on Rin for my own happiness! I'm so fucking fucked up! I HATE MYSELF!

As my eyes began stinging with tears, my stomach gave another rebellious lurch and I plummeted to the floor, holding myself.

I wish that Rin had never been born. He's like an unclean, mutated growth that has consumed my life and prevented me from ever finding the possibility of normalcy. Can I EVER go back now?

"Mommy…are you doing okay" I heard Primula's matter-of-fact voice say.

I looked up and felt a surge of fury at seeing her face. Now that Rin was back, he robbed me of yet another thing: my motherhood.

"Get the hell away from me this INSTANT! I never want to see you around here AGAIN!" I said gutturally, standing up and hunching over the demon. Wide-eyed, she slowly backed away, broke into an ominous grin, and retreated into her room. As well she should…his resurrection has ruined everything.

I needed to punish myself somehow…do sharp, physical damage that I couldn't stand…I had to nullify everything but the fucking pain!

Dizzily and markedly disturbed-feeling, I swayed down the stairs to visit Rin's kitchen in order to borrow one of my personal favorites: the yanagiba knife.

I held out my exquisite, porcelain palm and laid the knife gently on top. "Here we go again," I said, silently worshipping the honey-sweet texture of my beautiful voice. And with that, I whisked the blade diagonally through my hand.

THE FUCKINGSHITFUCKING PAIN! WRRROUGAAAGHRRHGH! I soaked the pain in, loving it, molesting it, riding it, raping it! So RIGHT ON! So intense, brutal, magnificent! I could feel my intestines contort and my body heave in answer.

I squeezed my fist together so that blood oozed out as I continued hissing through my teeth, tears streaming past my lips. All I could see, in the blind, hellborn fury of my mind's eye, was Rin fucking those dirty sluts, disfiguring their crotches and breaking them with his grotesque, pervert dick. FUCKING! FUCKING! In and out, in and out! FUCKING! FUCKING!

FROARGH, the PAIN! God, I can't stand it! I'm going to piss myself!

Sakura's betrayed me…she's no longer my friend!

Rin doesn't serve me anymore…I'M the one who's alone and tortured when it should be HIM!

I gasped with shock and disgust as my hips began bucking on their own and piss dribbled down my legs.

I'm finally abandoned, at the mercy of the world. There is no hope.

Without any warning at all, the door swooshed open, revealing Rin, who was wearing some hideously ugly black robe.

"Oh, good evening, Kaede-chan!" he said pleasantly in greeting as I came around from the kitchen. Why was I smiling so much? Even though I was vulnerable at the moment and ordinarily wouldn't show my face to him, I felt so happy to see him that it made my chest warm with joy. I felt like laughing out loud. I must be fucking crazy, but…I was really, really glad that he hadn't gone away forever.

"Hi," I said, unable to shake that horrible feeling of celebration.

"Um, would you like me to make you dinner? Or perhaps, run you a bath?" Rin said, bowing deeply (which would have been the perfect opportunity to kick him in the face, HAH!).

"Ah, both would be nice," I said, rather too sweetly for either his or mine own good. Something's terribly wrong with me.

"Whoa, wait, you're bleeding like crazy! And did you…um…pee on yourself?" he said, rising from his bow and looking at me with a rather sexy concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said very softly, and suddenly realized I was getting turned on. This had to stop. Now. I had to get out of here before something VERY strange happened. "Okay, I'll let you get to it, then," I said, my voice sounding WAY too sensual for that slut to be able to handle. This was not going well…the way things were going, one of us was going to rape the other within like ten minutes.

"Uh-oh," I muttered as my feet completely stopped responding, buckled, and sent me collapsing quickly towards the ground, although whether because of blood loss or ingestion of rubbing alcohol I'm not sure.

Even more unfortunately, Rin kneeled and caught my sexy body in his arms before I hit the ground, just like the fake gentleman he always pretends to me. I was so sore and numb, that, awfully, I was unable to get away at all.

"Don't…ugh…put me down…" I breathed, overcome by crippling dizziness. Rin either couldn't hear me or ignored me, and carried me over to one of our sofas facing the TV. After laying me face-up on his thighs, he reached under the couch and pulled out a first aid kit.

"I didn't know that was there…" I observed dumbly. It's a good thing my friends weren't watching me acting like this on top of Rin…*shiver*

"Yeah, I try to keep medical kits everywhere I can in the house," Rin said simply, although I sensed an undercurrent of disrespect.

He was criticizing me, wasn't he? How dare he? That stupid fuck!

"Here, let me see your hand," he said quietly and I obeyed him, although distrustfully. He gently held it and doused the cut with some kind of watery ointment…which stung like a motherfucker.

I hissed in response, but he said, "Don't worry, it's to help it heal." Next, he wrapped it tightly in a gauze strip. Hahaha…strip…

For some reason, despite the stinging sensation, I feel very uplifted and secure being taken care of by the murderer. Being in his lap, looking up at his caring eyes like this…the secure feeling this arrangement gave me was almost nostalgic.

"Why do you keep coming back?" I asked very quietly, truly curious. I mean, I wouldn't come back.

He shrugged. "Well, I'm not totally sure…but it doesn't have anything to do with Primula-chan."

"…oh…" I said, unable to tear my eyes away from his scarred but beautiful face. "But why are you so nice to me?"

He smirked, "It's the least I can do for a friend."

He looked good enough to eat…for a few moments, I saw a brilliance inside Rin's eye that was intoxicating. Staring into them seemed to heal the pain and fear I'd been feeling all day… Perhaps at that moment, I saw what Sakura and the other sluts found alluring in him. I was determined not to fall for it, though. I will not be used as a fuck bag by my mother's killer.

No matter how much my body is aching for him at the moment…I keep secretly hoping that his arm will wander accidentally up my skirt…but so far he seems to be keeping his sex drive in control. Which is good, because I didn't know if I would actually be able to say no at the moment if he started something…

This is going too far. I HAVE to pull myself together and torture him before I turn into a whore. He won't zombify me like he does everyone else.

Thus decided, I forced myself to sit up and get off him, even though he hadn't sexually pleasured me yet.

"I have to pee," I declared, spun around, and walked towards the stairs.

"Well, enjoy yourself," Rin said in an annoyingly critical voice.

"Don't talk to me," I commanded.

He had to know his place. I am the reason he exists. I am god, he is just my peon. It didn't matter that I had begun to find him slightly sexually enticing; I had to put aside my flawed personal aspects in the name of justice. This was the purpose I realized when Rin first moved in here with me.

I went up to my room, ignoring Primula as she tried to show me some shitty picture she drew of me and her together. Like I REALLY GIVE A FUCK about her sentimentality! Get over it, bitch!

Once inside, I looked quickly around my repertoire of torture tools for something I could make a quick, easy, but potent statement with.

Aha! The blowtorch! Perfect! I picked up the beautiful crimson contraption and fondled it. Madam Moonbite had assured me that this particular weapon had roughly the intensity of a flamethrower, and would be especially effective in burning Rin's genitals.

It would definitely work…but as I walked out my door and approached Rin's back as he was walking to his own bedroom, I suddenly felt all kinds of uncertainty about this. I had no doubt that I could go through with it, but…

I already was feeling guilty about his room being destroyed…and guilt was just not a feeling I typically associated with Rin. And if I felt bad about that, which was child's play compared to the damaging services I typically give him, I'm sure I would feel downright nauseous after igniting his crotch to a burnt crisp.

Fuck it, I need to pull myself together! This isn't a god damn person I'm dealing with here, it's Rin-kun, the worst monstrosity to ever walk this earth! He MUST suffer every day, and this day, as his first since his return from the grave, is especially important in showing him that he STILL won't be allowed to enjoy life.

I steeled my nerves. I may be only human, but my will is not. I HAVE to do the right thing, and burn his testicles off. It's the only way to deliver unto him the pain which I have been chosen to invoke.

Here I go…

I walked into the feces-scented room and saw Rin standing stock still with his back to me, looking around the entirely dilapidated space. I wonder how upset he'll be? I'm kind of excited…but that DAMN guilty feeling is back…I'm almost frightened of what he'll think of me.

Maybe…he'll go away…and I'll never see him again…

But why does that thought bother me so much when I hate him like I do?

He turned his head to me and said, with a blank expression, "Oh! Hi, Kaede-chan. I guess I'll be needing to replace some of my things…"

I don't know how he was able to show so little emotion about all of his things being destroyed…from the looks of it, he doesn't care at all! How…INFURIATING! I deserve to acquire as much suffering from Rin as possible! I try so hard, and he never shows any negative emotions!

FUCKING SHIT!

"Kaede-chan? Is there something I can do for you?" he asked, tilting his head and looking peacefully into my eyes…why does he look so fuckable, all of a sudden?

I have to do it now…I must regain control of the situation!

But I found that, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move my arms to bring out the blowtorch from behind my sexy ass! What was wrong with them? I just couldn't…

It dawned on me…my guilt…it was more powerful than I'd first suspected. Even though he seemed not to care that his room was annihilated…I felt ridiculously TERRIBLE about it! And I had NO idea why! Then, as a resultant defense mechanism, my hands were ignoring the orders from my brain to burn his dick and testicles off, because my subconscious knows that I'd feel even worse once I did that…

Then…in an indescribable surge of heightened emotions, everything suddenly came together.

I had been increasingly jealous of Rin seeing other girls.

I'd been taken aback, even awestruck, by his kindness, however insincere.

I was happy when he came back to life.

I am miserable and lonely whenever he is gone.

I was ECSTATIC that he didn't spend the night with Nerine. (Odd, because I don't care that my own retard boyfriend cheats on me constantly)

My world completely revolves around him…everything I ever do is accompanied by the question 'What will Rin-kun think of this?'

I masturbate about him almost every other day.

Every time I look at him now, I feel like it's my wedding day, and I'm walking down the aisle with him, the pastor announcing us as "Rin and Kaede Tsuchimi."

I want to fuck him more than I've ever wanted to fuck anyone in my life.

I can't torture him anymore, since guilt binds my hands.

Oh my God.

Oh my titty-fucking, child-molesting, goat raping God.

I'm in love with him…the guy who killed my mom.

It's not even just an intense sexual attraction; I really, amorously, deeply, affectionately, obsessively, unabashedly, romantically, ETERNALLY love him.

DAMN it! How could this happen? I was supposed to be his eternal tormentor, not his eternal love pixie! How could I POSSIBLY feel this way now?

Rin looked at me curiously, and then his eyes widened. "Oh, I forgot! Do you still want me to make you a bath and dinner?" He gasped. "Ooh, why don't we just combine the two! I don't think very many people eat dinner in the bathtub!"

I want him to pursue me…I want him to adore me…I want him to force me to do things against my will, just because he can't contain himself when he's around me…

I want him to love me…

"HOLY SHIT!" I roared, and dashed away to hide in my bed.

I smothered my idiot head and body with my pillows and comforter…what was I supposed to do now? If my love is going to prevent me from torturing him anymore…

What is Rin going to do when he finds out I'm no longer a threat to him?

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Wow. What a strange night that was…I kept expecting Kaede to shift into her violent mode and attack me or something, but…she maintained a sort of pleasant demeanor the entire time. Could it be that…she actually was happy I'm alive?

Nah…I didn't want to get too optimistic about her. I've made that mistake too many times.

As had become the routine before my death and subsequent resurrection (which I'd already forgotten the mechanics of), Nerine, Sia and I left the house together, leaving Kaede ostensibly behind to get Primula settled in for the day. In reality, I'm sure it was just because Kaede can't stand to be in my presence, especially when people are there that like me. Sia and Nerine are both extremely understanding and nice (and beautiful, cute, and sexy) girls, so they understood my feelings of wanting to talk to them a lot before we got to the corner where Itsuki, Mayumi, and Matsuri typically joined us, at which point I made an effort to catch up with Mayumi and Matsuri, and I could tell they appreciated it.

Today, however, I had severe difficulty talking to Nerine. She's always the one who makes me the most nervous, and given our activities the previous afternoon, I was having trouble figuring out what to say. I assuredly did feel a great deal of romantic and friendly affection for her, but…I didn't really know how to go back from the whole lap-sex thing that happened.

As such, I wound up laughing and joking around almost exclusively with the always-exuberant Sia, who is always very happy to perform bizarre impersonations of people and laugh supportively of any joke I make, however weak it is. I've gotten much more used to talking with her…it's almost second-nature now. In fact, I'd say I talk more effortlessly with her than with anyone else I know.

Nerine looked at us with faint envy in her pretty eyes, and giggled politely at things Sia said, but she could tell that something was wrong now between her and me. I felt bad, but…just didn't know what else to do.

*SMACK!* I went careening down, face first into the sidewalk.

"What the hell was that?" I cried in wonder, and was surprised to see Asa standing up over me.

"Hi, Rin-kun!" she said, putting her hands on her knees as she leaned down to me. "How are you this morning?"

"Well, I'm fine, but what did you do that for?" I asked, rubbing my scraped lips and nose as I stood back up.

"Hee-hee! You look so upset! You're such a girl," Asa beamed at me, as Sia raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not upset, I'm just confused," I sighed.

"Well! A little bird told me yesterday that girls can touch you again!" Asa winked at Nerine, who quickly looked the other way.

"Is that true?" Sia burst out, cute red blushes appearing on her cheeks almost immediately.

"And so, I thought I would celebrate by giving you a surprise smack across your back!" Asa said, looking way too happy.

"How thoughtful of you," I said with narrowed eyes.

"Well, no school will be attended if we stick around here anymore! Let's go!" Asa said, striding forward and pushing me in my chest. Unfortunately for Mayumi and Matsuri, Asa domineered any conversation the rest of the way there, talking loudly in my ear the entire time.

* * *

Sia accompanied me after class to the Cooking Club.

"Sorry about Asa-sempai being annoying this morning," I told Sia, who looked very beautiful today, really pulling off her petite stature with winning charm.

"It's alright, Rin-kun," Sia said, looking bashfully up at me. "Um…so…I don't mean to pry, but…"

"What's up, Sia-chan?"

"I noticed something seemed a little weird between you and Nerine-chan this morning; did something happen at her place yesterday?"

"Umm…" I started, wide-eyed. "Well…not really SOMEthing, something. But yeah, SOMEthing happened."

"Is that as specific as you can be?" Sia said, looking very serious all of a sudden. I could even detect a small frown on her face. She probably thinks I'm cheating on her…and I probably am…

"I'm sorry," I said, as sincerely as I could. "Trust me that nothing inappropriate happened between us…stuff just momentarily got a little out of hand, that's all…"

"Oh, okay, I guess that's alright, then," Sia said, a wave of relief washing over her face. "So, are you ready to cook?"

"Yeah, it's been a while since I made something good," I said, patting her on her small, delicately-formed back. She laughed and opened the door, at which point everyone in the club looked expectantly up at us for some reason.

"Ah, and here's the man of the hour!" Asa sang out, gesturing towards me. Great. She must have been talking about me to the class, which was never a good thing.

"H-hello, everyone," I said, looking around and waving shyly as Sia took my other hand and guided me over to our table.

"Hi Rin-kun," the class of women said in unison, making me feel at once queasy and bashful. I realized that I'd never actually finished yesterday, so I was liable to get horny again at far less than it usually took. I'd have to guard my thoughts carefully.

"Rin-kun, we were just talking about how remarkable of a guy you are! I mean, you _willingly_ do all the housework at your place, without even complaining!"

Kareha put in: "Yup! Most guys are too lazy to even vacuum, but you mop, sweep, dust, clean the curtains, repair the roof, clean up everyone else's clutter…" Each girl had (seemingly at random) made ridiculous swooning sounds during this sentence.

"Um…I'm really not all that great," I said, blushing and trying to stop the way this club meeting seemed to be going.

"And cook," Sia said, smiling at me, her kind eyes filled with a brightly-burning flame. "What other guy likes to cook as much as you?"

"YAY!" Many girls cheered.

"See, Rin-kun, you're the hotness!" Asa laughed. "What do you have to say for yourself for having the audacity to be the only perfect guy in existence?"

"Um…" I said, shaking a little with dread as I looked around the classroom at everyone's hungry-looking eyes (excluding Sia, whose eyes merely looked adoring). "Well…I mean, I'm glad you think so, but…I'm pretty much just a normal guy…"

"Nonsense!" Asa declared, clearing her throat. "Who here has ever had dirty thoughts about Rin-kun?"

I was rather stunned to see the entire room of women raise their hands as one…except for one little white-haired girl.

"Ran-chan," Asa said to her, "are you a lesbian?"

Ran's eyes widened. "Um…"

"You can go now!" Asa laughed, pointing out the door with finality. Ran walked out muttering something about Asa abusing her powers as leader. "Now that we're all heterosexual here, I'd like to announce that the Cooking Club is cancelled today…"

"Good, then I'll just…" I said, grabbing my stuff and preparing to leave.

"…to make room for today's event: Rin Giving Piggyback Rides to Everyone Day!" Asa declared.

"Ugh," I said as the other club members all cheered and acted like lunatics (besides Sia, Kareha and Asa, of course).

A god named Rozu, who was blessed with amazing fuchsia hair, sidled up to me and took my arm in hers. "Hi, Rin-kun…" she said, beaming up at me with ecstasy. "…I can't believe I'm really actually touching you…"

"Well…I'm glad that you're enjoying it so much," I laughed pathetically.

"Come this way," she whispered extremely loudly, pulling me over to the door along with the rest of the class.

Once everyone had congregated outside the room, Kareha walked up to the front with some prodding from Asa. "Okay, everyone…HI!"

"HI KAREHA-SEMPAI!" Everyone responded with ear-shattering enthusiasm.

"As you can see, this is a hallway!" Kareha began quite impressively.

"YAY, HALLWAY!"

I massaged my temples. Rozu leaned in and sneaked a kiss on my cheek, which caused me to lurch in surprise.

"So, the rules are, Rin-kun is the class's pony today!"

"OOOOooooOOOOOOooh!"

"But what if I don't want to…"

"You have no choice, my friend, we outnumber you eleven-to-one!" Kareha chuckled. "Now then; each of you gets to ride on Rin-kun's back all the way down there…to those stairs…down there…and back! AND you get to talk to him about whatever you want!"

"YAY!"

I was already a little sweaty just from the humidity of the school, so I was going to get overheated really quickly if I shared body heat with all these women. On the upside, at least none of them were fat or pregnant, so they hopefully wouldn't completely crush me.

"Alright," I said, sliding a hand through my sweaty hair. "I'll do it, but…um…I'm going to have to take my shirt off, if that's alright…"

The girls descended on me like a pack of wolves. Before I even knew what was going on, my shirt had been ripped to shreds and was now on the floor, and Asa had somehow grabbed my arm and pulled me out into the middle of the hallway.

"Hey, everyone calm down! No one gets to ride Rin-kun if you don't at least act like you're in high school," Asa commanded, my elbow submerged snugly in her left breast (something that felt ridiculously incredible, but I tried not to dwell on it…I could already feel myself hardening just from so much Asa). "Now then, we'll go in alphabetical order, so that way all is fair!"

"Argh, I HATE alphabetical order," I heard Sia's delicate voice say.

"Alright, I go first then!" Asa smiled at them, while everyone applauded for some reason. She then turned to me, and asked in a much more gentle voice, "Have you ever given anyone a piggyback ride to anyone?"

I gulped and tried to ignore her pretty violet eyes for the time being. "N-no…"

"It's not hard, I'll help you out," Asa said. "First, squat down just a little bit."

"Alright," I said, doing so.

She walked around and leaned on me, wrapping her arms around my bare chest (which meant a LOT of boobs pressed up against me). "Okay, I'm going to jump up on you and straddle your lower back, alright? Then, you can support me by holding my butt to keep me up, make sense?"

"Yes, sempai," I said, trying my very best not to think about Asa's rich pheromones rising up to my nose at the moment, or the prospect of touching her impressive butt for the entire length of the hallway.

"Okay," she breathed, and for a moment, I even detected some nervousness. "Ready…go!"

And we were off. Once I got used to the rather strangling feeling of having her arms wrapped around my neck, I actually didn't mind it. Of course, Asa is a VERY sexy woman, so I'm pretty sure anything involving her entire body touching mine counts as a pretty worthwhile venture. Asa's panties seemed very thin, but then again I don't know much about panties except for Kaede's thongs when I do her laundry. And those hardly count as clothing.

"I'm sorry about this, Rin-kun!" Asa said, seemingly sincerely as she held herself tighter to me. "I know you don't like to be the center of attention…I just wanted you to stop being so down on yourself all the time."

"Yeah, I guess, but…I don't even really know how to react to the ENTIRE club apparently having dirty thoughts about me."

"Most guys would go up about 100 points in ego," Asa said, putting her lips up to my ear. "But you've proven once again that you're a truly remarkable guy. I've never seen anyone so selfless…"

"Thanks, sempai," I said, suddenly feeling a strong urge to kiss her again. I didn't really remember the other one too well. "And, um…by the way…"

"Yes?"

"I've been meaning to say that, all my life, you've been the only person who I can always count on to shoot me straight. You're never afraid to tell me what I need to be told."

"Mm-hm! I try," she said. I could feel her breasts rumble against my back as she chuckled.

"So, since I at least owe you the same favor," I said, arriving at the end of the hallway and setting her down (mostly because I was afraid that I would start fondling her if I didn't let go of her butt as quickly as possible). "I just wanted to say that, if…ALL of this hadn't happened, with the Princesses, Sakura coming, and Primula moving in…I would definitely already be going out with you."

"Thanks," she said breathily, her face uncharacteristically red. "I would like that…very much, Rin-kun…" She looked down the hall at our club. "We weren't supposed to stop…"

"Oh, okay," I said, leaning over. "Hop back on, if you want!"

She held me even tighter on the way back. I could feel the affection in her body as it squeezed around me. "So…" she said faintly. "Does that mean…you won't consider me, now that those others are here?"

"No, that would NEVER happen, sempai," I said. "Until I'm permanently bound to someone, I'll always consider you one of my top choices. Which…sounds like I don't care about you that much, but…I actually really do."

"YOU are the nicest boy ever!" she exclaimed, kissing me on the neck. "…I'll never love anyone else…so, please…don't forget about me."

"That wouldn't be possible," I said once we arrived back. Asa smiled at me and walked away, although I noticed her eyes were red and watery.

"Alright," I said, a little more confident now. "Who's next?"

* * *

I took off down the hall with a Demon with jet black hair, who I'd always found very pretty.

And now…I was propping her butt up with my fingers. Life can be really ironic when you're me.

"H-hi there," I said back to her. "I don't actually think I know your name."

"Mmm, hi, Rin-kun, I'm Buranburu," she said, running her hands all over my chest. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"Well, it's not like I really had a choice," I said. "But I definitely would have if you asked me, so I guess that's a moot point."

"You would've? I don't know…you always looked so distant, cold, and mysterious…I think maybe you THINK you would've, but then, if I had, you really wouldn't've."

"I guess you might be right," I said, smirking at her pointless flow of conversation. "But, I actually do think you're really pretty, so who knows?"

"Oh yeah?" she exclaimed. "Are you serious? I think you're the hottest guy I've ever SEEN!"

"Well, thanks…"

"Ugh…" she collapsed her head into my shoulder. "If I had just asked you on a date a month ago…"

"It's alright, don't beat yourself up about it too much, Buranburu-chan."

"Rin-kun…you really are as nice as everyone says, aren't you?"

"I don't know," I smirked. "I'm just myself."

"…could you do me a favor and sleep with me?

"Um, WHAT?"

"I know, I know it sounds crazy, but…we don't have to have sex or anything, we can just lie there together, I PROMISE…"

She really was sexy, but…I don't think I can be THAT much of a slut and still have a clean conscience.

"I don't know…"

"Please?"

"I just don't…"

"I'm single…and I've been holding out for you for a long time! PLEASE?"

She was just going to get more depressed the longer she went.

"Rin-kun…THIS, right here, is my ONLY physical experience I've ever had with a guy. I don't want it to be my only one. I know I'm kind of nerdy, and not as pretty as anyone else, but…"

"Buranburu-chan…" I sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, but I can't. You're just a little too late, and I don't even know you that well…"

She collapsed her head on my shoulder again, and this time I could feel her body shake with sobs.

"Sorry…sorry for saying all that…" she said between dire sobs. "Now you must think I'm a slut!"

Dear gods, this girl is emotional! I feel bad for letting her down, but…jeez!

* * *

Next was a human girl named Busshu, who had the most amazing turquoise hair. Almost as soon as Buranburu was off, Busshu clambered on board.

"How's it going, Busshu-chan?" I said cheerily, but came to realize that my hands were clasped around QUITE A BIT of bare Busshu ass. And she doesn't have a very big one…I mean, it's a very tight cute butt, all things considered (not that I'm one to notice these things, I'm just saying…), so it was kind of strange. Maybe she was wearing a thong? I tried not to think about it.

"Ohhh, just aMMAAAAZZZing, now!" she sang, straddling my bare back as tightly as she could. "This is the happiest I've ever been!"

"That's great, Busshu-chan. I'm honored that I can make you so happy," I said, but then slowed my running pace as I felt something peculiar brushing up on me. It was…kind of prickly and hairy…

I reached my finger up to feel up where her thong should have been…and instead, it went straight up her crotch!

"OH MY GOD!" we yelled in unison, and I quickly yanked my finger out. WOW. Just…WOW. I had NEVER felt a girl's crotch before…that was so WEIRD! And…warm, slurpy, and kind of nice…

Wow, I really need to snap out of it. I'm turning into a full-fledged sex freak.

"Busshu-chan…" I said, my heart pounding tremendously. "Are you not wearing…"

"NOPE!" she proclaimed in happiness.

"But why would you go to school commando when you're wearing a miniskirt? Isn't that extremely risky?"

"Oh, I wasn't commando all day, silly, I just took them off for a special treat right before you came to get me! Isn't this awesome?" she cried, her voice several octaves higher than normal.

I sighed and accidentally clenched my hands a little around her butt cheeks. She cried out again , I felt her lower regions spasm a little, and the next thing I knew, my hands were covered with a thick, chunky, creamy liquid.

"Oh, you…didn't…" I said in disgust.

"Yes I did!" she laughed, sounding very proud of herself.

Well…I can now safely say that a girl has orgasmed on my back…solely from me squeezing her butt. I vaguely wondered if anyone would even think that was a notable achievement besides Itsuki and Bark.

My life…has officially gone the way of the psychotic and nonsensical.

* * *

"Sorry about all the grime on my back, Furora-sempai," I apologized to the orchid-haired god now on my back. "My last rider was a little gross…"

"Was she a demon? Was she one of those maggot-shitting, horse-fucking demon fucks?"

"N-no…she was a human."

"Was she? WAS SHE? Well, I wouldn't be fucking surprised if she had been a demon slut. Those fucking pieces of SHIT have overrun this entire realm, and, would you fucking believe it? They're starting to pierce their way into the gods' sacred realm with their shrunken fucking cocks! Son of a fucking whore!"

"Um…that's quite a mouth you have there, Furora-sempai."

"GGGHHHH! I can't stand it anymore!" She yelled, jumping off my back. I whirled around, wondering if she was going to attack me, but she just stomped past me. "Their princess goes to this school, AND their fucking king is in town, and no one's doing anything about it? I'm going to go cut off their ass cheeks and slap them in their fucking mouth!"

She turned around and smiled sweetly. "But it was very nice to ride you, Rin-kun! I will fantasize about this for many years to come." Then she immediately blasted off down the hallway, presumably to kill Nerine. I wasn't too worried, however, seeing how Nerine could probably summon lightning down and destroy Furora's body.

I shrugged and walked back to pick up my next rider…

* * *

…who turned out to be the extremely quiet Kaiso, a demon with neon pink hair who was from the year below me.

"Good afternoon, Kaiso-chan," I said with a reassuring voice, since we had been running a while and she hadn't said a word.

"…..hi….." was her very faint response. I could feel her heartbeat pounding through her breast, and her arms were shaking an alarming amount even though they were crossed tightly around my neck. I made sure to get an extra-secure hold on her butt to keep her aloft.

"Did you have a good day at school today?" I asked her with a smile, feeling concerned that she was getting a little too nervous to be healthy.

I felt her shake her head after a moment.

"Well, what happened? Was someone mean to you?" I asked in concern. I couldn't help but think of her as a little girl, with her acting this way.

I felt her sigh into my neck. "Rin-sempai…I can't even stand to be here, in school, anymore…"

"Why's that?"

"…scared…there's never a time when I'm not scared…not even at home…not even in my closet…"

"Kaiso-chan…"

"He'll always find me…no matter where I go…"

Uh-oh.

"Who? Your father?"

"No…my dog…Pyre…he's…scary!"

Oh, I get it. She's scared of dogs.

"Well, maybe you should talk to your parents about it," I said as gently as I could.

"No…scared…"

"Wait…are you scared of school, your parents, AND dogs?"

"…yes…"

"Um…is there anything you're not scared of?"

"Yes…you…" she said, and I could finally hear some brightness in her voice. "When I think of you…all the pain goes away…"

"Really? Well, I'm glad I can help you like that," I laughed.

"But now…just being here with you, like this…I'm just scared that I'll do something to make you hate me forever…and then you'll never talk to me again…" She sounded legitimately terrified of such a thing happening.

"Don't worry, nothing like that will happen," I assured her.

"I love you…" she said, snuggling up against my neck. I rolled my eyes, despite her cuteness.

* * *

Next up was Kareha, the person I felt the most awkward at porting, given our contentious history.

"Ready, sempai?" I asked her as I kneeled in front of her.

"Oh, yes!" she sang, and leapt on top of me. I immediately wrung my hands around underneath her to support her butt, as had become my custom (here she giggled), and we broke out at a run.

"This is so much fun!" she exclaimed, hugging my neck.

"Well, I'm glad you think so," I said, trying as hard as I could not to focus on her very nice breasts pressed up against my bare back.

"Hmm, you don't sound too excited about this!"

"Well, to be honest, I'm starting to feel kind of slutty," I told her. "You know, I don't really want to be the plaything of a whole bunch of girls…"

"Oh, I see," she said. "So you don't actually like having Nerine-chan and Sia-chan fighting over you all the time?"

"Well…they don't really fight…so I don't mind them that much."

"Teehee! You're a hypocrite!"

"Most likely," I smirked.

"Hmmm…you know, it feels really nice to be on you like this, Rin-kun!"

"Um…" I tried very hard to not tell her how VERY nice her breasts felt.

"It feels like all of our feuding is being washed away, by doing this!"

"What?" Was Kareha apologizing or something?

"Well, you know, it's nice to finally put away all the baggage of you and Kaede, and just be riding on your back like this! It's like we're friends!"

"Um…we can be friends, if you want," I said honestly. Friends were getting VERY rare in my life, getting overshadowed by several adoring suitors.

"Really? Thank you, Rin-kun!" Kareha squealed, hugging my back tighter.

"Ah! Kareha-sempai, your…" I stopped myself from mentioning her bust just barely. "You're…really nice…"

"Psshh! No I'm not! I've treated you like crap for a long time!" She cuddled up to me. "I'm the real hypocrite."

"Don't worry…"

"Hey, I know what we could do! You know the culture festival this afternoon?"

"Um…yes?"

"Well, me and Daisy-chan are having a kissing booth! You should come, and I'll give you one for free!"

"A kiss?" I said, blushing now. "Well…why do we have to do it there? We could kiss now, if you wanted…"

"Really?" Kareha gasped, and I could feel her butt get substantially warmer.

"S-sure, if you want to do it…it might be easier." And Daisy wouldn't be there.

"Rin-kun…" She ran her fingers through my hair. "Let's just wait a little, tiny bit longer, okay?" She did, however, lean in and kiss my cheek.

"Um…Kareha-sempai?"

"What is it, Rin-kun?"

"Your breasts are awesome." DAMMIT! WHY DID I HAVE TO HAVE MY SOUL COMBINED WITH ITSUKI'S?

"Wh…what was that?" she responded.

"Sorry, no! I didn't mean that!"

"So…you really think…my breasts are…NOT awesome…?

"NO! They're great! I just meant that, you know, I didn't mean to say that at all. But they really are amazing, don't get me wrong, I just…" Damn. It.

"Oh, really?" she said, laughing awkwardly. We trotted the rest of the way in paranoid silence.

After she slid off, she patted me on the shoulder, saying, "You can still stop by the booth if you want."

I didn't answer and just stared at the end of the hallway. How many more chicks were there?

* * *

"Hello, Rin-kun! I've been waiting super-super patiently for my turn!" the indigo-haired Puranmu chirped from atop my back.

"Well, that's good I guess…" I said, feeling really tired.

"Did you know? I brought my pet hippo Prometheus with me for the culture festival today!"

"You have a hippo?"

"Yeah! Isn't that just the best?" Puranmu laughed. "I brush his teeth with a fucking broom!"

"Well, that would be important, I guess," I laughed. "But aren't hippos kind of dangerous?"

"Pssh! Not if you know how to treat them! I like to take Prometheus to the park and have him eat zorillas, to get his ferocity out. And if he ever tries attacking people, I won't let him have any guacamole for dinner!"

I think I just solved the mystery of where all the zorillas went! Woohoo! Itsuki will be happy.

"Well, just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt," I told the slightly neurotic girl.

"Well thank you, I will! So! Do you really do all that stuff that Kareha-sempai says you do around the house?"

"Um, yeah?"

"OHMYGOSH! You are SO sexy AND perfect," Puranmu whooped, massaging my chest as I felt her moisture accumulate on my back and hands. "However much you're getting from Kaede-chan, it's not even CLOSE to enough!"

"…yup."

* * *

"SING WITH ME!" Rozu cried once we were on our way.

I laughed, trying not to get aroused from holding her bare buttcheeks (she was wearing a thong). "What song are we going to sing?"

"You'll see," she snickered. "Ahem: Preutopians, Preutopians playing in the park! It's a party, WHAT THE FUCK, someone's CRYING in the dark! Stick your hand in ashtray and pull out a stick, fuck, suddenly your kids suck a big ol'…"

"UM, Rozu-chan, maybe we should sing something else," I interrupted nervously.

"Okay! How about this: I knoooow you! I walked with you once upooooooon a dreaaaamm!"

"I guess we can do that one," I sighed.

"So, do the next part, my love!"

"Um, okay." I tried my best to sing the next stupid line: "I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam…" I've truly sunk to low lows this time.

"Very good! Alright, now let's sing together, you gorgeous boy!"

So, in off-key unison we continued: "Yes, I know it's true…that visions are seldom all they seem…"

Such a stupid song. The only upside turned out to be tightly cupping her nicely-formed…

*cough*…must…suppress…the Itsuki in me…

* * *

After two more quite bizarre young ladies, I finally arrived at Sia's turn…panting and leaning over in front of her…and with no small amount of feminine liquid splattered on my back from past rides.

"Are you okay, Rin-kun?" she asked softly, stroking my neck (which felt REALLY good, the thing was so sore).

"S-sure…" I said, looking up at her. "But my back's really sore. Would you be interested in healing me, future wife?"

"Yes sir, future husband." The lime green swirls of energy lit the hallway and flowed into my aching back (the rest of the Cooking Club looked on in awe).

"Wow, I can stand up straight!" I laughed with relief. "So, Sia-chan; would you be interested in boarding the Tsuchimi airline at this time?"

"But of course I would," Sia said warmly, sliding her sexy legs along my lower back and positioning herself properly on me. I gulped…she was the only one besides Asa to make me feel nervous while on top of me. Trying not to think about what I was doing, I wrapped my hands down to support her butt, which I was interested and ashamed to find was clothed in very soft lace underwear.

"Uh, aren't we supposed to be moving?" she murmured teasingly in my ear.

"Oh, right!" I trotted down the hall for the final time, this time with the most beautiful girl in the club as my rider.

"So…did you have a good time?" Sia asked me, her voice sounding a little strange.

"Not especially," I said. "Are you upset about all this?"

"Well, yeah! I don't want to be clingy, but…" she wiggled her butt around in my hands, and unfortunately I began to get noticeably hard, "It kind of sucked watching all those girls use you like that this whole time…"

"Yeah, I can understand that," I said with a smile. "I definitely wouldn't like watching ten other guys rub their wet crotches all over your bare back!" And, just like that, my erection vanished!

"Haha, ew! But I know it's not your fault," she said, kissing my earlobe, which brought quite a bit of color to my face.

"Sia-chan…" I said, enjoying the feeling of saying the gorgeous woman's name to her while her body was draped around mine, "…have you really had dirty thoughts about me?"

"UM! No…" she said meekly. "I just wanted to support you…that's why I raised my hand."

"Oh, that's okay! It's a relief, really."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, you know…you're so pretty that…I don't think I could actually ever DO anything to you sexually…I would just feel unworthy, you know?"

"…I see…"

"So it's actually fine! I'm just amazed and overjoyed that you like me at all, my future wife."

Sia chuckled a little. "I do love you, future husband…with all my heart…but, you know…you deserve better than me…"

"What do you mean?" I laughed. "Who could possibly be a better wife than you?"

"Oh, thanks Rin-kun!" she said breathily. "I just don't, you know…think…about those kind of things, as much."

"Hey, I'm with you on that one," I said, turning my head slightly so I could see her beautiful golden eyes. "I never even thought about sex, period, before last week. So I guess we're both in over our heads."

"Rin-kun…" she hummed in my ear. "You shouldn't be so negative about yourself, though."

"Well, why shouldn't I be? I'm apparently too stupid to commit to anyone, I'm self-centered, not very good-looking, I'm totally naïve…just ask Kaede-chan. She'll be able to fill you in on my many, many failings."

"Rin-kun!" Sia said, suddenly forceful. "How can you say all that about yourself?"

"…that was pretty mild. I've got lots more," I said gloomily.

"Look, all those other girls back there LOVE you! And not just romantically," Sia cried, "I mean, they want to take you home and make love to you every day! Clearly you're a great guy! What more evidence could you want? How could I possibly outdo THEM, with their hyperactive sex drives?"

We made it to the end of the hallway, so I set her down like I'd done with Asa. "What are you doing?" she asked, conflict still in her voice

"Hang on a second," I told her, and then turned back to the hallway to shout: "Hey, we're going to hang out in here for a second, so you all can go home!"

"AWWW!" was the response of most of the club

"MY, MY, MY!" was the response of Kareha.

Closing the door, I turned and approached Sia, who was standing against the railing for the staircase landing. Having her looking up at me, slightly worried, made her seem even more precious and sanctified. I tried my very best not to dwell on it, but her beauty was truly something legendary, especially with the setting sun's light from outside the window casting her entire form into tantalizing shadow.

"Sia-chan, the difference between you and all those girls out there is: I don't love any of them!"

She gasped, leaning forward to me.

I continued, "I just love you."

"Rin-kun…"

My body moved on its own, running my fingers through her copper hair. I didn't remember ever being this close to the saintly jewel before me. "You smell really good…" I mentioned dumbly.

"It's strawberry perfume…" Her golden eyes outshone the sun.

"Did you wear that on purpose to get me to want to taste your lips?"

"Maybe…"

"Well, it's working…"

"Ungh…" Her eyes closed and she propelled her lips towards me. I leaned in to meet her halfway.

*SLAM!* The door blew open at Kareha's will. "Excuse me a moment, won't you?" she said sweetly. "I have to go get ready for the kissing booth. See you later!"

Sia and I groaned, falling onto each other's shoulders as Kareha jaunted down the stairs.

"The moment's over, isn't it?" Sia asked me.

"Yeah…you're probably right," I responded, turning my face and kissing her on the cheek. "I do love you though, Sia-chan, I mean it. You don't have to worry."

"I know…" she said, wrapping her arms around my bare back and holding me close. I did the same to her. "And you know I love you, too, more than anyone else possibly ever could…"

* * *

Sia and I went down to the school courtyard, where the culture festival was still going on.

As usual for this time of year, everyone was smiling as brightly as a kid who got three scoops of chocolate ice cream. Our school, in particular, is known for having the most people get laid at their culture festival out of all the schools in the region.

Seeing how the guys here are all misogynistic pricks, I have a feeling it's due to more than just charm and bravado on their part; I suspect roofies may have something to do with it.

"Nerine-chan's track meet starts in about twenty minutes," Sia told me, looking up at me beamingly. "Do you want to go cheer her on with me?"

"Sure," I said with a grin. "I'm sure she'd appreciate us being there. BUT I really need to go back home and get a shirt on."

"Oh, how right you are, my good sir!" Sia said. "Otherwise I might just have to molest you. Hee-hee! Alright, so shoo! I'll meet you at the stadium, okay?"

"Sounds good, madam!" I grinned and saluted her, proceeding to try and worm myself through the crowd to get out of the chaos.

"Hey! Rin-kuuuuun!" I heard Kareha's trilling voice call.

I sighed and reluctantly looked over to the source of the voice. Indeed, she was operating a kissing booth, with Daisy looking extremely put-out next to her.

I put on a face of confidence and meandered over.

"Good afternoon, ladies," I said.

"Don't call us 'ladies,' you sexist pig! That's a derogative term towards women, calling us 'ladies' like that!" Daisy told me, pointing at me with finality.

"…right," I said, giving a bow of mock apology. "So, Kareha-sempai, I'm sorry about the awkwardness earlier, but if your offer still stands, then I guess…"

"What? Kiss her?" Daisy interrupted, a look of superiority on her face. "Who the fuck would want to kiss your hideous face, you fucking fag!"

I summoned up calmness to quell my deep annoyance. "I'm sorry, Daisy-chan, you must be jealous. I WOULD kiss you, you understand, but I wouldn't want to contract a venereal disease in the mouth." As she got so furious that she appeared to lose the ability to breathe, I turned back to Kareha. "So, how much do I owe you for a kiss, Sempai?"

"Well, it's only 400 yen. But I'll give you a special discount to just 350!" she beamed.

"Hey, that's not a bad price at all to get to kiss you!" I laughed, my heart thumping erratically. What the hell was I doing? Sure, I think Kareha's nice…ish…and that she's very physically attractive, but…I don't really want to lead her on AS WELL, do I? Oh well. I'll just blame it on wanting to cement our new alliance…

"Kareha-sempai," Daisy finally spluttered. "THIS douchebag doesn't deserve anyone's kiss! I mean, just look at him! Shirtless, stinky, covered with slime…clearly he's just a shady, ugly sex pervert, eager to corrupt as many women as possible."

I shrugged to Kareha and turned back to the bitch. "Shut up, freak!" I yelled. "What is the deal with your vendetta against me? I have done NOTHING to you!"

Daisy stood up and slammed her hands down on the table. "Don't you DARE talk back to me, you fudge-packing swine! Of COURSE I can berate you, you do much worse to Kaede-chan every day, and," she shot Kareha a condemning look, "it seems I'm the only one who's still loyal to her."

"Don't associate me with the likes of you, Daisy-CHAN," Kareha said, eyebrows cross now. "Rin-kun is my very good friend. Right?"

"I can't BELIEVE your idiocy!" Daisy muttered darkly, scraping her head rather dangerously on the wooden post next to her chair. A line of blood trickled down her face.

"Daisy, level with me," I said, arms folded. I felt overrun with energy. "How many people did you kiss today?"

"Why the FUCK should I answer to you?"

"So, none, is it? I expected as much, seeing as you've got the personality of a crack whore," I growled viciously. I felt abnormally furious…I wasn't sure what it was, but for whatever reason I REALLY wanted to put Daisy in her place today.

"Rin-kun, calm down! Why don't we go to my house, instead?" Kareha intervened anxiously.

"WHAT was that? How dare you!" Daisy stood up and glared at me furiously.

"You heard me. You're a bitch, and everyone knows it," I said, planting my hands on the other side of the kissing booth and glaring back.

"HOW DARE YOU!" she roared, ripping her vocal cords. Her cornea size began flickering spastically; she was beginning to look crazed.

"Oh, I DO dare," I said, sneering at her. "I just don't think you can stand the fact that three weeks ago you were school idol, and now, everyone won't stop sucking up to ME and have all but forgotten that you exist."

"I'm going to fuck your faggotpieceofshit ass up!" she foretold, and with her eyes now glowing a steady, bright red, I suddenly believed her. I looked down at her intensely-vibrating arm, wrapped around the wooden post of the booth, and before I could react, she broke the beam off with a *chunk* and cracked the splintered thing across my face.

After the stars disappeared from my vision, I realized I was looking straight into my crotch, collapsed awkwardly on the ground.

"Whoa," I said as I pushed myself up, and then flinched when I saw Daisy run around the booth past a flailing Kareha; she proceeded knock me across the face again with her club.

"DAMN!" I tried to say, although by this point much of my face felt like it had been shredded…I had no idea at all where my nose was, but it had definitely been ripped the fuck off my face. Wasn't anyone going to help me? Blood was pouring out.

"GAHH!" I choked when psycho-Daisy beat me across my bare stomach with it. I could feel blood bubbling in my throat as I lay on the grass.

"I'm going to massacre you," Daisy groaned, and heaved the club up again. I heard a strange, loud animal grunt of some kind, and the next thing I knew, a hippo came up out of nowhere and barreled straight into Daisy…who was thereafter no longer in sight.

"Thanks…Prometheus…" I said, and suddenly felt wistful for a time where a hippo charging into a beautiful, deranged girl would have been the weirdest thing that had ever happened to me.

I was having trouble seeing out of my eye…but I sensed the arrival of several people around me. The first distinct thing I heard out of the resulting mumble was Kareha's chime-like voice, coming from very near my head:

"Rin-kun, please try to relax…I'm going to heal you now…"

The warmth of her heartfelt magic swallowed me up, and in minutes I was back up on my feet (although a little dizzy).

"I…are…what…you…" I breathed, looking swiftly around at all the onlookers. "Is it okay for you to do this in public?" I whispered worriedly to Kareha.

"Nope, but if it's for you, then I could care less about secrecy," Kareha said, walking up to me and placing her hands tenderly behind my head. "Or are you saying that you want to be in private with me right now?"

Well…that depends which brain she's asking, I suppose. But be that as it may…

"Sorry, Kareha-sempai!" I said, bowing politely and trying to shake loose, "I've got to go get ready for a track meet!"

"But I owe you a kiss," she said, a little pathetically.

"Sorry, now's not the best time," I said awkwardly, hugging her warm, sexy body to me before loosening myself from her and forcing my way through the crowd. I must be the most ungracious person ever…

"You can always come over to my house, any time you want!" Kareha called, and was immediately swamped by horny males offering to take my place.

"PROMETHEUS!" Puranmu screamed, running past me, desperately looking for her pet hippo. Seeing me, she came up and clasped my hands in hers. "Oh, my lord and savior Rin-kun, have you seen poor, sweet, precious Prometheus?"

"Yes," I said, giving the indigo-haired god a friendly hug. "He saved my life, actually. Although I didn't get a good look at where he went…"

She gave a little yelp, pecked me a quick kiss on the lips, and ran off to continue looking for her "poor, helpless" Prometheus, lost somewhere in the suburbs.

"Well…" I said, continuing my way home. "Today's been…special…"

* * *

After I'd snatched a T-shirt from my still-destroyed room, I sprinted out of the house before Kaede would have a chance to detain me, only stopping momentarily to say hi and give a hug to Primula.

Nearly as soon as I got outside the gate, I sensed that someone was standing behind me.

I turned around and saw a savage-looking Daisy hunched over, the dusk's ebbing light dyeing her hair and face a silky midnight black. Her clothes had all been slashed to shreds, and were just loosely hanging off her shoulders now.

"Um…Daisy, what..?" I began, feeling a little alarmed.

Faster than my eye could detect, Daisy surged towards me with an almost superhuman speed. I saw two perpendicular glints before my eyes as she collided with me…and then I was pierced on the arm by something long, deep, and sharp…

Scissors!

"GAHH!" I screamed, holding my blood-leaking bicep. She just carved into my muscle like I was a piece of meat.

"Rin-kun, I'm gonna…KILL…you…" she muttered, leaping on top of me and rapidly clicking away with her scissors just centimeters above my face and body.

I really never ever wanted to use physical violence against a girl…but…I really had to get away from this chick before she did something…

She suddenly stopped snipping and lowered the scissors decisively into my crotch.

"WROAAARRGHKKKKK!" I moaned in visceral pain and horror as the blades stabbed repeatedly into my sac…the pain was searing, overpowering, and unbearable…I felt dizzy…it felt like one of my nuts had been carved in half! I couldn't even see anything anymore, let alone breathe.

She chuckled and snipped a few times in the air before dipping them down into my bellybutton, proceeding to clip and slice it deeply until all I could feel on my stomach was a spiderweb of bloody, white-hot pain.

"FUCK! FUCKING SHIT!" I howled through the foam in my mouth.

Daisy clipped another couple of times and then cut my lower lip in half. Then she clipped in the air for fun before cutting off my left nipple.

Pain, PAIN, fucking pain! All I can feel is sheer pain and despair.

"Let's see how you can live when all of your skin's been sheared off," she gasped.

Fuck, I had to do something before got the best of me (What am I saying? Of COURSE she'd gotten the best of me). "Sorry…"

"What was that?" She clipped off the tip of my nose and then jammed the scissor blade into the resulting, bloody cartilidge.

"I'M SORRY! I'LL NEVER SPEAK BADLY ABOUT YOU AGAIN! Please…PLEASE…just leave me alone."

I felt the blades jab into the side of my neck.

"Are you serious? Are you really sorry? Do you think I care at all about what you have to say, you pathetic fag?

"I'm SORRY! I'm SORRY! Please forgive me! I was wrong, you're totally fine, you're really nice, and very popular!"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Rin-kun," Daisy's voice suddenly changed completely, sounding like nothing I'd ever heard before…it sounded tangibly slimy. "I was just playing with ya. I was just kidding ya, man! Of course I'm not gonna kill ya!"

"Y-you're not?" I coughed through the blood, vomit, and foam, still going into spasms from the pain in my stomach and testicles.

"Yeah! Here, let me make it up to you!" Daisy continued in a very bizarre dialect. Warmth then flooded around me…wait…was this her…magic? Was she healing me? What the FUCK?

Sure enough, in just a couple minutes, I was sitting straight up, completely unharmed. EVERYthing was unscathed and healed back to normal.

"Thank you," I breathed, bowing my head in weariness to the violet-haired psychopath sitting before me.

"Man, it's alright! No hard feelings! I'm glad we're straight again!" she laughed. I noticed her eyes were now a warm shade of blackberry. Perhaps this was her normal voice when she wasn't being a bitch or a murderer? Odd…

"So THIS is what a penis looks like!" she laughed, poking my exposed, but fully healed crotch.

"Um…yes…" I said, just blinking at her. She was like a totally different person.

"I'm going to go inside and ask to borrow some clothes from Kaede-chan. Do you think she'd mind?" Daisy laughed, gesturing at her hippo-destroyed attire.

I shrugged and shook my head. "Go for it."

"Alright, cool! I'll see you later! Sorry about all the snipping!" she beamed and skipped inside.

What a freak.

Well, I guess I have no choice but to follow her. Nerine and Sia are expecting my presence, after all, and I can hardly show up in blood-sopping clothes with my penis hanging out.

* * *

Dressed in yet another pair of t-shirts and pants (this shirt had about a year's worth of bloodstains stained into the fabric, but I hardly cared at this point), I stood in the nosebleed stadium seats with my precious Sia, looking down on the ant-sized people running track.

"So Nerine-chan is up next, right?" I said, still feeling a little paranoid about Daisy.

"Yeah," Sia smiled with radiant warmth and looped her arm through mine. "Don't worry, she'll do great."

"I hope so," I said, unable to fully relax, although I did softly massage Sia's wrist.

"You seem SOO uptight and nervous, Rin-kun…you're alive again! You should enjoy it!"

"Well, I don't mean to disagree with you, Sia-chan, my love," I said with a shaky smile, "but if you'd lived in my shoes for the last eight years, I'm sure that you'd be as unenthusiastic about life as me."

"What do you mean by that?" Sia asked with a cocked brow.

I sighed. "It's a long story…but trust me, however bad things get, I'm thrilled to always have you to come back to."

"Awww!" she murmured, and rested her head on my arm. I guess, in a way, she was right; it seemed that things were actually slowly starting to turn around for me.

After all, Kaede didn't torture me last night! And actually, she was acting very suspiciously friendly that entire evening, come to think of it. I wonder what's up with her. The problem is, I can't just approach her like any normal person and simply talk about what's going on, because if I don't word it EXACTLY right, she's likely to cut off my tongue and force it down my throat, or a number of similar scenerios.

Kaede…all this crazy stuff that's been happening today is distracting me from my mission to help you get better…

Last night she seemed to be making significant progress, and I didn't even do anything to further nurture that progress. Damn it. I'm a terrible friend. I need to get out of here and pay attention to what's important.

"Rin-kun…are you alright? What are you thinking about?" Sia asked me, a small smile on her face.

I smiled back down at her as genuinely as I could. My heart ached with guilt for so many reasons…I DID sincerely love Sia, so it wasn't entirely dishonest to be holding her up here, away from everyone. However, the guilt I felt for either betraying or leading on Nerine, Sakura, Primula, Asa, and ESPECIALLY Kaede was much more overpowering. What the HELL am I supposed to do? My heart feels like it's been sliced neatly into six pieces, with Kaede's portion being the biggest, darkest, and most dire. Everything I do causes me pain.

I don't want to hurt anyone any more than I have to…but I think I'm starting to see that working myself out of this web of guilt, pain, and skeletons in the closet is going to cause some damage in a lot of areas.

I just need to figure out what to do…the best course of action to take. Where to start? I wonder if love is even important in this case…the feeling itself is so subjective and mysterious that I can hardly stand to use it as a measuring standard. It's also hard because, whenever I'm with either Sakura, Sia, Nerine, or Asa, the love I feel for her is greatly amplified, out-shining all the others. Due to this, it's almost impossible for me to get a feel for who I like the most…

In short, making this kind of decision is probably going to end up screwing everybody a little bit…I just need to strategize somehow…

*BZZZZT*

A surge of crackling-hot electricity ripped through my nervous system and sent me careening forwards, tumbling down several rows of bleachers.

"What the…" I began shooting straight up and looking back up to where Sia was. To my complete lack of surprise, Daisy was standing where I had just been, wielding a sparkling electric weapon that I could only assume was a taser. The violet haired bitch held it in Sia's neck while Sia cried out in pain, a sound that echoed across the stadium.

Harming me was one thing…harming an innocent girl was COMPLETELY different though. I wasn't about to stand for that.

Ignoring the shock and pain of slamming violently down several rows of bleachers, I launched myself back up, running as fast as I could up the stone steps.

"Rin-kun, just give up! There is nothing you can possibly do!" Daisy sneered at me while she kneed Sia in the stomach and stuck the charged weapon inside Sia's open mouth. The princess's body began to twitch around violently as she made a truly awful noise of overpowering pain.

I have to save her!

Operating on pure anger, I jumped up to where they were and tackled Sia's assailant down to the ground.

Daisy tried to jab the taser in my neck, too, but I slammed both of her arms down and glared at her widely smiling face.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" I roared at her. "Leave me and my friends alone!"

She laughed quite a bit at that, which made me even more angry. I was about to punch her in the face when her eyes suddenly changed from glowing red to blackberry purple.

"Oh, hello, Rin-kun! This is kind of a sexy position we've found ourselves in, isn't it?"

Indeed, Daisy and I were in the missionary position. This disturbed me enough that I shot up off her.

"Don't even worry about it, just, just, just don't even worry about it, my friend!" she said in her casual, slimy voice as she got up. "I'm just yankin' yer chain, man, I don't mean any harm."

"You BITCH…" Sia tried to say, but her vocal cords sounded mangled and damaged. Her eyes were glowing wildly, however, like she was ready to kill Daisy. The tainted god smiled back somewhat eerily.

I had a better idea than murder, though.

"Stay away, Daisy-chan, I'm warning you," I told her sternly, rubbing my jacked-up neck.

"Man, don't even worry about it! I'm awesome, you're awesome, I'm just gonna go back home and relax, alright?" Daisy laughed and skipped away.

"DAISY!" I dropped the honorific as I shouted.

She looked up at me and beamed beautifully. "Yes, Rin-kun?"

"This is your last warning," I said.

She gave me the "okay" sign (although it could easily have been the "asshole" sign, I get those two confused sometimes) and she pranced away, out of the stadium.

I put my arm around Sia and held her close. "Do you want me to walk you back home so your dad can heal you?" I asked her.

She nodded into my side and wrapped her thin arms around me. Her whole body was shaking. I supposed this could be a pretty violent encounter for someone who wasn't as used to them happening as I was.

"It'll be alright," I said lovingly to her and took her hand to guide her down the stairs.

As we left the stadium, we heard the announcer say, "…and Nerine-chan came in at a pathetic eighth place! Better luck next time, demon princess!"

I wondered if that guy would still be alive in the morning, reflecting on Nerine's quick, painful temper at Itsuki yesterday.

* * *

Later that night, I found myself standing leisurely outside the Fuyou household, leaning against a telephone pole. And mindlessly stroking the spiked end of my hammer.

I needed something to do…to make myself look busy, distracted. My eyes peered around the dark street and, almost on cue, I saw the lovely Sakura walk up, wearing a phenomenally beautiful white summer dress.

"Hi Rin-kun," she said a little shyly, and when she walked into the light of the streetlamps, I noticed that her face seemed a little off still, like she was straining to smile. She definitely looked much prettier than when I saw her last in the hospital, but…the beauty looked more fake. She was missing that inner spark that made her so addictively beautiful.

I wondered what could have happened to make her that way.

"Sakura-chan…are you alright?" I asked softly, unable to take my eyes off her plastic-fake smile.

"Wh-why do you say that?"

"…Well, you don't really seem like yourself somehow."

Sakura shrugged in a seemingly-calculated act of cuteness. "I don't know what that could be!" Clearly she was hiding something.

"If you say so…" I said. "Um…your dress is very pretty, though."

"Oh, well, thanks!" she said in a hushed tone, now smiling genuinely and looking to the side bashfully. "I, um…was wondering…"

"What's up?"

She stroked her right arm absentmindedly. "Well, okay, hear me out; after you died, I had like a COMPLETE emotional breakdown. I mean, I could barely even hang on to reality…"

"Really?" I asked, feeling the pain of guilt clench its spiky fist around my heart. I couldn't stand the thought of causing my sacred childhood friend pain.

"Yeah…the entire time, I was just, like, being eaten alive by all these wishes, these desires, that could never be fulfilled."

"Uh-huh…"

"And so…one of them…was…um…sleeping with you in my apartment…" Sakura banged the tips of her fingers together nervously.

"Oh," I said, with a faint smile.

"I know it's not really your thing, and you probably already like someone else," Sakura pleaded, "but, just for me…you have NO idea how much I need you sleeping next to me tonight…just…please…"

"Sakura, I…" I wasn't sure what to say. It is true that I find Sakura very, very, very physically attractive, and indeed have a deep-set, emotional connection with her and a romantic interest in her. But…the main thought stopping me was…

…Kaede…I can't be apart from her any longer than absolutely necessary…

I sensed a sudden movement behind me; exactly what I had been standing out there waiting for. As unpredictably as I could, I turned and forcefully chucked my hammer in the direction of the noise…the hammer had only barely left my hand before it bashed Daisy in the head. The stalker fell backwards, blood dripping out of her noseridge, where I'd punctured a hole. The hack saw she had been wielding clattered to the floor.

"I warned you, Daisy-chan," I laughed, my voice shaking with barely-contained hatred as I jerked out my handy hammer, bashed her in the forehead with it to make sure she was knocked out, and dragged her over to the exit sign across the street.

"Rin-kun, w-what are you doing?" Sakura exclaimed, sounding slightly fearful (not that I blamed her).

My arms were shaking, I was feeling so vengeful. I spread Daisy's arms out and wound padlock chains (I'd laid them out prior to her attack) around both of her wrists so that she was suspended in midair, stretched across the poles of the sign.

"Rin-kun, are you alright? Are you still in control?" Sakura said, worry evident in her voice now.

"Okay, here's the thing," I said, turning to Sakura and trying to focus my eyes on her. However, my eyes seemed to be too jittery, too hyperactive…I couldn't look at one place at a time. Regardless, I kept talking. "Normally I wouldn't do all this, but this…woman…has been stalking me and doing violent things to me ALL day. And I'm getting pretty sick of it."

"What…kinds of things?" Sakura asked, stepping over into the median with me very cautiously.

"Oh, you know, the usual…slamming wooden posts into me over and over again, cutting me with scissors over and over again, including in the crotch, and attacking me and Sia with a taser…" I nodded to the hack saw in the street. "She was most likely about to attack me with that."

"Do it," Sakura said, her voice suddenly intense and dark-sounding.

"Uh, what?" I said, looking over at her, my own adrenaline still pumping furiously through my body.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it. She deserves to die for doing that to YOU," Sakura said, smiling over at me with another very disturbingly blank smile. I couldn't see Sakura at all in that face.

I gulped and dropped to the ground to grab the chains for Daisy's dangling feet. Oddly, they were being swarmed with many, many small bugs that looked kind of like ticks. I decided it was better not to touch them and stood back up to look at Daisy, who appeared to be slowly waking up.

"Daisy, remember what I said when I told you that you were perfectly fine, and a wonderful person and all that?" I whispered harshly.

"Nnnngh," she groaned, trying to shake her head awake.

"Well, that was a lie. You are a terrible person, who doesn't deserve a single friend in the world," I laughed. "I can't even picture someone being more self-centered and vile than you."

"That's right!" Sakura put in, walking up and putting a supportive hand on my shoulder.

Daisy squinted her blackberry eyes open. "Rin…kun..?"

"And now you're going to pay," I said, taking out a cell phone and dialing Bark's number. I smiled appreciatively at Sakura for her support.

Sakura's own eyelids began to close, and she leaned in for a kiss, open-mouthed. Giving in to my surging hormones, I softly moaned and met her in the middle, and got more than a little aroused when I felt the hungry, exploring tongue of my childhood friend writhe to life inside my mouth, desperately licking me with passion.

Her breath tasted mind-numbingly minty and addictive; I pursed my lips around her tongue and drank her saliva for all that it was worth, holding her beautiful face as close to mine as possible. She moaned into my mouth and I tangled my tongue up with hers in response, dancing obsessively inside her mouth now…drinking in the carnal desire that we felt for each other.

"Uh, hello?" I suddenly heard Bark's voice say out of my phone.

I pulled away from the sensually-charged Sakura (we both took a deep breath) and tried to recollect myself, blinking rapidly. "Uh, hey, Bark-kun. Guess what?"

"Man, what's going on, motherfucker? I'm just getting my dick up in the girls' cheerleading coach's ass, man! Let me tell you, I don't even KNOW what's hotter than a forty-year-old slut who looks like she's fucking twenty, alright? HhhhAAAHAH! I mean, son of a bitch, how are you gonna be fucking me as hard as that, you worthless piece of cunt! (I think that last sentence was directed at the girl he was fucking) Mmmmm…so wet…I bet this bobcat's husband doesn't clean out her drainpipe very often, that's for DAMN sure!"

"…Right…" I said, smirking at Sakura, with whom I was sharing the phone. She suppressed a giggle and pressed further up to me. "So listen, Bark-kun, I've got a present for you."

"A present? No shit, hahaha…wait! Who is this, again?"

"Um, Rin."

"MAN, Rin-kun! What the fuck is up, my bitch! How's ya wang been hangin' maaaaan? HhhhAAAHAH! So, did you get me some pussy to fuck or some shit?"

"Yeah, man, she's ALL prepared for you," I said, beaming at Sakura. "She's chained up across the street from me and Kaede-chan's house, between some poles."

"Damn, that sounds like some hot shit! But man, tell me just one thing first, alright? Just one thing! HhhhAAAHAH! Is she a virgin?"

"Hmm…hold on, let me check!" I said, and then covered the phone mic. "Sakura, could you check for me?"

"Sure!" Sakura chirped, pranced over, and pulled down Daisy's sweat pants. After a good, hard look, Sakura skipped back and whispered, "Well, she's either a virgin, or has had surgery."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," I said lovingly, and then to Bark, "Yeah, man, she's fresh and unblemished, just for you!"

"Damn straight, doggie! MotherFUCKER!" Bark laughed, sounding ecstatic at the prospect of raping a virgin. "I'm so down for this shit, it's not even funny! HhhhAAAHAH! Man, I tell ya, Rin-kun, you're a real friend. A real FUCKING good friend."

"Man, I appreciate that," I said, rolling my eyes to Sakura. "Enjoy! I'll see ya later!"

"Dude, I'll be right there, just as soon as I'm done jizzing my load in the womb of this OLD bitch! Peace, fucker!" I hung up.

"Yay!" Sakura said, jumping up and down and clapping. "This is so exciting! What a good plan, Rin-kun!"

"Well, thank you!" I laughed.

Daisy seemed to have finally become aware of her surroundings, and looked around in panic. "Wh…what are you…" She noticed that her pants and underwear had been pulled down and then shrieked, writhing around in alarm. "What have you DONE to me?"

"Nothing, yet," I said with a smirk.

"We've just set up a special date for you and Bark-kun," Sakura supplied. "You aren't going to be able to walk right for a LOOOOONG time after this, I'm afraid."

"It's true, I've seen Kaede, she can still hardly get around after an entire night of Bark pounding her…" I said slyly. Sakura and I giggled together.

"Please, you can't…I'm not…I don't want…" Daisy tried to beg, her eyes huge with fear. She opened her mouth to scream, but I grabbed her lower jaw and, with a cracking sound, snapped it back up into place to close her mouth.

"Sakura, could you get that gag on the ground for me, please?"

"Yes sir!" she sang, and fetched it for me. I tied it tightly around Daisy's mouth, as Kaede had done to me many times in the past.

Daisy continued to struggle and make loud, muffled sounds.

"I hope you enjoy your last few hours of being a virgin," I taunted.

"And having a butt that works," Sakura added.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Bark NEVER uses lube. He's going to DESTROY your intestines."

"MMmM! MMM! MmmmM!" Daisy tried to talk, but me and Sakura just looked and blinked at her, smiling with satisfaction.

"Come on, Sakura-chan, I'll make some refreshments for us back at me and Kaede-chan's house!"

"Oh! Well that would simply be marvelous!" Sakura giggled, holding my hand and swinging it. I held the front door open for her when we reached it. "You're such a gentleman!" She winked at me and walked inside.

I'd finally kissed her…I really, really kissed Sakura! WOOHOO! She was the first girl I'd EVER thought about romantically…

I never thought this day would come. I'm so beyond excited.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

I skipped school today.

After not sleeping all night (because of being utterly disturbed with myself), the farthest I got after waking up was my bedroom door. A nameless fear rose up and clenched my soul, forcing me to flee and seek shelter within the confines of my closet.

I thus spent a good thirteen hours sitting in my closet, rocking back and forth on my ridiculously fuckable ass and crying to myself. I did converse briefly with Mayumi, who called me on the phone to ask for some stupid-ass favor, and Daisy, who came in and wouldn't stop distressing over my well-being. But she doesn't know the half of it.

Rin…he's a monster…and now that he knows that I'm weak, that I can't even raise a finger against him anymore…I just know that he's going to murder me, just like he did my mother!

Of COURSE he's going to kill me! All that stuff I've done to him for these eight wonderful years…a lion will always kill his trainer if he detects hesitancy in his trainer's whip lashes…and Rin is no different, a dark-minded male creature that only operates on the most primal levels.

If he hasn't detected my love already, he soon will…and then brutally murder me. It's not going to be pretty, after all I've done to him…

Damn it! Fuck! If only I wasn't so weak, and hadn't allowed myself to fall in love with him, despite my Spartan efforts to hate him, and always make him miserable!

I'm going to die…I can't even breathe, I'm so scared. He's going to rip me to pieces, one organ at a time!

For just an instant, a silver outline of a hideous face appeared in front of me in the darkness. It was Madam Moonbite's very, VERY old maw of a face. I screamed immediately, and was so shocked that I accidentally farted out a splattering burst of poop.

Heart beating quite deafeningly, I opened my closet door so I could run to the bathroom before I shitted myself any more. However, the sight that greeted me was something wicked, evil; about seven Rin's, each dressed in all black and only having one eye, were standing in different parts of the room, and all were STARING at me and grinning hugely.

I made a scared squeak, and felt my bawdy functions sputter into action again. So, despite the fact that demon Rin's were watching me, and the fact that I was only in my lingerie, I pushed past the apparitions in my room, several more who were moving around very quickly in the hallway, and hid inside the bathroom, SLAMMING the fucking door shut.

I peeled off my thong and planted my ass down on the toilet seat, but as I started to relieve myself, I realized that I was about to vomit. Although I tried to go as fast as I could, I ended up heaving my head forward and blowing chunks all over my legs and the bathroom floor…like six times.

I felt, nasty, corrupted, dead…

Sighing, and with tear-rimmed eyes, I walked over to the mirror, and almost pissed myself (even though I just went) at what I saw.

Instead of my reflection, the horrifically ancient-looking crone Madam Moonbite was grinning, dried yellow saliva dripping from her blackened gums, rife with disease. Her clothes were dark, sturdy, towering, and covered with dimly-glittering gemstones of red and green. She also had only one eye, although, like a Cyclops, it was located in the exact middle of her face, and looked just as yellowed and decaying as the rest of her body.

"Hello, failure," Moonbite said, her lipless gums widening to reveal her smile, each pointy tooth carpeted with blue-green moss.

"Madam Moonbite," I said, bowing extra-deeply to show my dedication to her will. "I…can explain…"

"Is there some kind of problem? Why are you not torturing the boy anymore?" her voice, as always, was accompanied by three disconcerting sets of echoes.

"Um…" I began, not knowing how to put that I was now incapable of hurting the person that I had previously volunteered to kill.

"Would you LIKE…to come visit me, so we can talk in person?" Moonbite asked with a tilt of her bug-infested head.

"Y-yes, Madam Moonbite," I said meekly, and reality immediately bent all around me with a sudden, thundering *POP!*

* * *

My eyes took a second to get used to the darkness of my new surroundings. I was up to my thighs in thick, murky water…and the structure I was in appeared to be made of wood, and was creaking incessantly. Five flags of different colors hung on the walls surrounding the chamber.

"Come…HERE, my beautiful WORM," Moonbite said, bending a skinless finger towards herself. I obeyed and walked quickly over to where she was sitting on a stool, in front of a trashy bed and a miniature sink and mirror.. The murky water was a bit thicker here. "Don't you…THINK that…it's about time for you to…service me again, daughter of the swine?"

"I wouldn't know, Madam Moonbite. But you are all-knowing, so, as always, I will defer to your will," I said with an obedient bow, dropping to my knees in front of her stool, despite the fact that my shoulders and head were the only thing still above the filthy, feces-smelling water. Heart beating, throat drier than sandpaper, I reached my shaking hands up to undo the multiple clasps that secured her bizarre wardrobe around her crotch.

"My penis has been…feeling…STRANGE, my DEAR!" she said, smiling widely. I felt a bit of her yellow saliva drip on my face.

I'm scared…I'm so scared…Rin-kun…help me. I don't want to do this…not again…

I finally undid the buckles and peeled back Madam Moonbite's filthy plaster coverings, revealing her penis, which looked MUCH worse for the wear. The dick was VERY puffy and bloated, nearly 20 inches tall at the moment, and covered in what appeared to be pulsating, heavily-veined, rotting hamburger meat, greenish-gray and stinky like you wouldn't believe.

"Um…" I said, shaking fearfully. "What do you want me to do, Madam?"

"Well, I want you to peel off all that rotten skin, of course! Get down to the healthy PART of my penis!"

Going off of smell alone, I didn't think that there was much penis left that hadn't rotted and bloated. However, gulping, I deftly brought my hands up to her rancid-smelling cock and gently began ripping off the slimy, gelatinous flesh that, apparently, was at one point a penis.

I whimpered as the stuff came off with a squeaky squish. The damn cock flesh quivered in my hands! God fucking damn it!

"So…what are all these white, twitching globs that are growing out of your cock?" I asked in a voice so timid that I was actually surprised I could even produce such a noise.

"There are no…GLOBS there, my sexy debutante!" Moonbite responded with finality.

"Umm…except there are at least five pulsating globs staring up at me, from the surface of your…"

"DON'T CONTRADICT ME!" Moonbite shouted, her voice warping like she was vomiting her words out at me.

"A-alright," I said, and sank my fingernails into a squishy handful of rotten flesh, tangled black veins, and quivering globules. I yanked it off, and blood that smelled truly curdled sprayed up in my face as the globs popped in my hand, covering my arm with sickly yellow pus.

I could hardly breathe.

"Please continue, my…DEAR, what seems to be the problem you have with fulfilling your duties concerning the boy?" Moonbite smiled at me, patting me on the head.

"Well…" I said, ripping off a series of tangled veins from her cock while squinting to avoid the spewed blood, "I feel lots of contradictory things at the moment...some of which are making me feel very sick…and possibly insane..because of this, it's getting difficult to operate AT ALL in life while wearing any sort of mask of compelling normalcy."

"Hmm, yes…YESSS, I see!" Madam Moonbite mused as I continued ripping handfuls off her penis.

"You can always understand me so well, Madam Moonbite…" I said shyly.

"That is because I'm inside you."

I popped a globule of pus between my fingers. "So…this place, right here…is inside me?"

"Of course not, you depraved piece of shit," she chuckled, "this is inside ME!"

"But…if this is inside you…and…you are inside me…then wouldn't I be correct in saying that this place is…inside me as well?"

Moonbite cackled. "Of course not. Keep peeling!"

"My mistake," I said apologetically and continued to rip off more rotten skin and drop it in the stinky water.

"So," Moonbite continued, "these feelings are all centered around a singular entity who causes you suffering, are they not?"

"Yes, all of them revolve around Rin-kun."

"Tell me…what are your thoughts on Rin-kun? Try not to…leave anything OUUUT…"

And so I took a couple of minutes describing everything I felt about Rin-kun, since before my mother's death, throughout the course of the past eight years, and especially the revelations I had about him yesterday…that I loved him…and had a strong feeling that he was intent on killing me. This process took long enough for me to actually succeed in ripping the last of the stinky, pus-covered, bloody rot off her dick, finally arriving at a cute, pink, quivering tube, deep in the center of the dilapidated penis I had been ripping apart.

"Ah, there it is!" I said with a pleased smile, scooping the last of the diseased sludge away from her cock.

"Fantastic. You may now suck my penis while I diagnose you."

Is she serious? How could I possibly…oh well, I didn't want to invoke her wrath, so I took a deep but shaky breath and leaned forward, wrapping my lips around her penis. It tasted TERRIBLE…like an exact 50/50 mix of gasoline and vomit. I played around with her head and shaft with my tongue, squinting to try and ignore the utterly curdled flavor. I was going to be SO sick after this!

"The visions of Rin-kun that haunt you are formed by a combination of your conflicting feelings of mistrust and dependency on him, resulting in a form of deep, paranoid anxiety that we demons call Psionic Prioritizing. Now…come on, woman, suck my dick like you mean it, YEEEEEEES, that's riiiiiiight! (Here I began to jerk my head as I sucked as well as I could…to my disgust and relief, her penis began to get erect, filling up my mouth as I continued) Rin-kun is inside you right now, would you not agree?"

God, I wish. I would MUCH rather have Rin raping me for hours and hours rather than me sitting here doing THIS!

"Yes, Madam," I replied after momentarily pulling my lips off her twitching, inflated dick.

"This illness can be rather difficult to get rid of. But you know, an explosive but precise surge of emotions should do the trick in banishing him from your psyche. The process will be VERY painful, though…are you up for it?"

I nodded my head with certainty, and she surprised me by suddenly ejaculating in my mouth. I moaned in disgust and tried to pull away, but she wrapped her ancient, skeletal hands around my head and held me to her pelvis as she continued to pump diseased-tasting semen down my throat. I did my best to keep up with her flow and swallow.

Finally, she pulled out, although still dribbling semen (which I was disgusted to see was a dark blue for some reason), and then began pounding her nuts in my face, still holding me forcibly down there.

"You will have to surgically extract Rin-kun by summoning up his image in YOUR face, by your own hand, while looking in a mirror. While viewing your physical transformation into his image, you will permanently deflect your mental associations of him to an exterior avatar, at which point he can no longer harm you."

"Okay, Madam," I said when she stood up and gave me room to breathe. I NEVER want to have oral sex again.

Her freaky hand on my shoulder, we waded over to the mirror next to her floating bed. Many surgical tools that I wasn't familiar with rested on the sink rim.

"Wh-what should I do, Madam?" I asked her, worriedly eyeing the scalpel.

"Oh, just like I said," she intoned, "operate on yourself until your face looks identical to Rin-kun's. In the meantime, I will be sticking my fingers up your asshole."

"Right…" I said, taking a deep breath and going for it.

As Moonbite stayed true to her word and thoroughly explored the inside of my asshole with both her fingers and her penis, she guided me through how to use several of the instruments as I picked them up. I used retractors, forceps, and positioners on myself to slowly mold my face into as close to a mirror-image of Rin's as I could, which was greatly eased by the endless apparations of Rin in my mind that I could sculpt off of. I even used the scalpel a few times to scar myself to my satisfaction.

"Good," I said, turning my head and smiling at the ancient monstrosity that was currently fucking me up the ass. "I think that about…NNNNG!...covers it…"

"Not quite," she said. "Your eye. Get rid of it…"

"Oh, but I couldn't possibly….UH!"

"Do it! Do you not care about your mental deterioration if you do not complete the process?" she picked up the speed with which she was buttfucking me.

"Alright," I breathed softly, picking up the scalpel and holding it up to my eye.

Here I go.

With a grunt, I jammed it in, and I felt the goop and fluids of my eye combust and flow down my face, all over my mouth.

"Excellent, EXCELLENT, Kaede-chan!" the old lady fucking me shouted.

Awareness was fast leaving me, giving way to pooling darkness of an ominous kind flowing in to replace the lost vision of my eye. My mind left me, leaping into the darkness.

* * *

I concentrated on the darkness, and before I knew it, I had been transported into a pitch-black, wooden hallway. It appeared to only contain one door at its end, from which the only sound I could hear was radiating…it was an awful sound, the noise of tiny kids sobbing and moaning with fear and despair. Their never-ceasing vocalizations of terror made me shudder…it made me feel physically ill to hear. I felt nauseous, pained…

I found myself walking towards the door. The terrible, ugly sounds climaxed into a fever pitch as I neared the door. They could hear me!

Why did I feel so AWFUL at hearing this? It was almost like…I knew what was coming…when I opened up that door.

However, despite every hair standing up on my back, I pushed open the door and walked in to the dimly-lit chamber of violet. My breath left me.

Childlike versions of Rin, Sakura and I sat, hunched on a bed, all clearly recent victims of some abuse. The terrible, monstrous moans were coming out of the young me.

"What…?" I mouthed as the three children raised their bleeding eyes to me fearfully. This scene seemed very, VERY familiar…as if it was a memory I no longer had…yes, I was sure I had experienced something like this, a long, long…

My eyes suddenly widened and I began to laugh very, VERY deeply, against my will. My whole body chilled, and my laughs turned into a depraved-sounding moan similar to the one my childlike self was using.

"Hey, Lady…help us!" the tiny Rin cried. "There's a person here who comes and beats us!"

It was all too familiar…too true…I couldn't FUCKING TAKE IT! I started to freak out, giggling and guffawing at the three broken kids.

THIS HAD ALL FUCKING HAPPENED TO ME! WATCHING THEM, *GASP*, I RECOGNIZE IT HAPPENING! BUT WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?

I threw back my head and hee-hawed like a donkey, staring up at that GOD DAMNED violet, pentagram-shaped light I remember STARING at as a kid. WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT HAPPENED HERE?

"Are you alright? You seem to be having some issues," the childlike Sakura said, ever the adult-acting one of the trio.

Before I knew it, a rush of angry adrenaline flooded my mind, a sheer overdose of gluttonous glee. Without even comprehending what I was doing, I leapt upon the violet bed with the three children and began beating them savagely. I started with Sakura…beat her, beat her, and BEAT HER FUCKING FACE IN! I BEAT HER TILL HER CRANIUM BURST, AND HER BRAINS FELL OUT ONTO MY FIST, HAHAHA!

Rin and the childlike me ran away, screaming, but there was NOWHERE THEY COULD FUCKING RUN, HA-HA! I'm gonna BEAT their asses!

Descending upon myself next, I plunged my brain-swathed hands into the kid's underdeveloped chest; she screamed a bloodcurdling scream as I ripped off her nipples and began to break off chunks of her ribcage. I just screamed louder to deafen her, worshipping the warm feeling of blood on my hands.

Rin tried to pull the kid away from me, but I just batted him in the face with my pulp-covered fist. "YOU'RE NEXT!" I gurgled deliriously, and went back to beating myself up.

My screaming kid self tried to crawl away, but I pulled her to me, turned her over on her face, and held her in place with my giant, sexy ass while I violently ripped both of her butt cheeks off and chucked them across the room.

Still screaming (DAMN, I screamed a lot back then), I turned myself back over and was about to begin ripping her face off with my teeth, when I felt a firm pair of hands grab me from behind.

"WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?" I howled monstrously.

But the Rin who stopped me was no longer a helpless child…he was now the exact image of the current Rin, the one that I'm in love with. And he was glaring at me, knowing full well what I had been doing in that room. I felt a flood of guilt wash over me then…I felt truly terrible, suicidal, even, about the things I had just been doing.

Darkness overtook us. I collapsed into a ball, barely able to breathe from all my despair. I looked up and saw Rin begin to morph again. This time, his skull split directly in half, and two vindictive-looking, shadow Rin's erupted out of his severed cranium. One Rin had green eyes and was feral, bloodthirsty. The violet-eyed Rin just drew itself up and glared at me with an intensity that made me feel hellbound. Without warning, the violet-eyed one grabbed me with his massive, ink black hand.

"Rin-kun…Rin-kun, please, PLEASE don't!" I howled. His hand began to tilt, and I started to slide off accordingly, despite my frantic tries to hold onto his flesh. Below us, the green-eyed, psychotic Rin bared his sharp fangs and hungrily chomped at my heels.

"Please don't let go," I begged the condemning Rin. "Please forgive me…I'm…SORRY!"

Reality shattered again, with a massive pop.

* * *

I looked around, once again draped in all-encompassing darkness. But it smelled…familiar…

In a moment, I realized I had woken in my closet, and thus opened the door to get some light. I was completely naked, smelled terrible, and covered with all kinds of nasty-looking fluids that I was fairly certain hadn't all originated in me.

I lifted my hand to my face and felt it desperately...it seemed that the surgery hadn't actually occured...my face is still the same, and my eye is still there...

I reached my hand down to my soaked crotch and realized that I'd pissed myself a couple of times recently…and shit myself too, by the look of it.

"Gods…" I moaned, holding my aching head and standing up. I needed to…to see Primula…tell her I'm sorry…to treat her better from now on.

I staggered, nude and blood-covered, over to her bedroom, but it was empty. I was momentarily worried that I had murdered her during my visions, but then I remembered her favorite place to sleep.

Sure enough, when I opened Rin's room a crack, she was tangled up in bed with him, holding him like she was afraid he would disappear if she let go.

I shut it and wandered back to Primula's room. I needed someone…and if there wasn't anyone, then I'd take Primula's smell. Thus decided, I collapsed into her bed and slid my filthy, sticky, slimy self into her bedsheets, staring with sore eyes at the ceiling. Within seconds, I began crying like a pathetic little child…but I couldn't stop…it hurt…but also felt good. I let the tears flow as much as possible, blubbering like an idiot.

I realized how alone I was now…Rin was my enemy, Primula too. My friends won't like me when I'm a spineless, psychotic mess, and my boyfriend doesn't care about me at all.

There is NO hope…I really, REALLY hope Rin kills me soon, I don't know how much more of life I can take.

* * *

**A/N: **Well then. ^_^ I guess that's that! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it (despite how WEIRD the bloody thing is), so please R&R!

Also, this time I have a special request for my readers. I'm wondering which girl you guys are pulling for in the race for Rin's love in this story. Now, I know who I want, and who I'm planning for him to end up with (it's a secret, though!); but I'm also pretty flexible, and so I'd also like to know which way the wind's blowing, if you know what I mean. So, if you'd like to put your preferred choice in your review, that would be awesome! (and no, Itsuki's not a choice…and neither is Prometheus the hippopotamus…) It could be one of the more obvious choices or even one of the side characters.

On a side note, you might be starting to notice some changes in Rin's personality/behavior that don't seem to be caused by his fusion with Itsuki…this is purposeful, and more will be revealed along those lines in time.

See you next chapter!

KoshKing777


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **As you might have noticed, this was once again a long chapter in coming. I am regretful for the wait, but happy with the finished product. And it's here now! Hooray!

As indicated in the previous chapter, this one is going to be a bit superfluous. It's an "event" chapter, much in the same way as the beach episode in the show. My goal here was more for the characters to experience something nice and fun(-ish) for a change, and attain a brief glimmer of happiness before we plunge back into darkness.

So please sit back and be entertained! =)

Warning: Proceed with the knowledge that this is by FAR the most sexual chapter of the story so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own nuthin'.

* * *

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 9**

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Two days passed without incident from Kaede. I was beginning to feel slightly disoriented from the change. Where, before, she had been overbearing, hyper-egotistical, and obnoxious, she now BARELY left her room, and was extraordinarily reserved.

I wasn't really experienced in drastic mood shifts like this, so I didn't have any idea what was going on. For my part, though, I did my best to take notes for Kaede at school (I was pleased to see that Daisy hadn't yet reappeared at her desk) and cater to her every need that I could think of.

It was weird though; I'd have thought I would be happy with a lull in her terrorizing…but all I felt was increased concern for her, so that my thoughts were constantly occupied by a ghastly apparition of Kaede's face, staring me down with the perpetual accusation that I should be taking more care of her, being dedicated to her even more than I already was.

But I didn't know if I could…Kaede requires a different kind of dedication altogether, so I didn't think there was much more I could do for her. After all, she had made it quite clear that she didn't want me as a friend at all, let alone like me, so that kind of limited my potential for supporting her.

Had I reached my limit as a supportive healer for my old friend?

I wondered what to do while washing my face in the sink that had often been full of my blood. If she wouldn't torture me anymore, I was going to have to find a new way to relieve her of her hatred.

Dammit. My life is so complex that it's difficult to even think about. Time to think about something else.

I popped my glass eye in and began thinking again about a good method by which I could ever make a choice on who to ask out. I had already mused often on my love for each girl, often to no permanent result. Love is SO abstract and ever-morphing a principle that it's hard to get any sort of valid guess as to how much I love each girl, besides the obvious realization that I do, indeed, love most, if not all, of them.

There was also the sexual attraction method…I could just go for the girl who I found most arousing in appearance. However, this would seem slightly hypocritical since I've always despised people who judge others on looks alone, so I didn't want to stoop to that. Also, since I don't seem to put sex on as high of a pedestal as everyone else, this would be especially stupid to use as a measuring method. If I were to do so, though, I have to admit that I found Nerine the most sexy of everyone, although Sakura was almost an exact tie…however, Asa was clearly the flat-out hottest woman I'd ever met, and Sia was just plain beautiful; so glorious-looking that I felt near to death every time I looked at her brilliance (I won't even touch Primula on that front, and I can't even see Kaede as anything approaching sexy anymore, after how much she's tainted my perception of sex and women). So that method wouldn't work very well anyway.

Another method I'd been throwing around was which girl I got along with the best. The problem with this is that I (of course) got along well with each girl in different ways; Sia because we love joking around and talking for hours, Nerine because we have similar personalities and understand each other, Sakura because I know her the best and whom I consider the ultimate confidante, and Asa's just unpretentious and really comforting to be around. So, how could I take apart and determine which of those traits are the most important? Arrrgh.

The last way I'd been thinking of was which girls seemed to have the most to lose from me not picking them. Asa clearly had very little to lose, but after her, it got tricky. The princesses both had their engagements hanging out there for me to accept, and it would be crushing to both of them if I turned down their proposals. Primula was clearly DEEPLY dependent on my continued presence, and Kaede also seemed to get dangerously volatile towards herself and others when I was away. Sakura, also, had come a long way, was forsaking her education, and was even renting an apartment just on the off-chance of going out with me. I HATE this. I want to make everyone happy…but there's no way I can do that.

But I want to stop professing my love for each of them like a floppy-minded crustacean (however true my love was) and finally just pick one, so that I can stop hurting everyone with my actions. How can I, though, when things are like this?

I groaned, got dressed for the day (WOOHOO for silk boxers!), and staggered down the stairs, plopping disconsolately on the couch. It was the weekend, so I didn't have to go anywhere or do anything; the perfect time for me to regain my energy.

"Rin-kun…" a quiet voice said from the right of the couch.

I lazily swiveled my head in that direction, and jumped in surprise at the sight of Kaede standing there. Her face looked sickly white and she had dark bags under her eyes. Something was eating her…but what had changed?

"Oh, good morning, Kaede-chan! Wh…what are you doing outside your room?"

"Um…" she lowered her head and looked around furtively with her bright blue eyes. Wow, she looked really suspicious. I noticed she was carrying a purse…what was up?

"Are…you going somewhere?" I gently asked her after a moment.

This seemed to jolt her back into awareness. "Oh! Y-yes, umm…I was wondering, Rin-kun, if you'd please like to come with me and Primu-chan, becausssssse…we're, um, going over to Sia-ch…"

At that exact moment, a beaming Primula kicked the door open and marched in, dragging a large, ugly, apparently dead opossum behind her.

"Primu-chan! What the FUCK is that?" I accidentally yelled, rising to my feet.

"Rin-kun!" Kaede chided me with a familiar glare in her eyes, and then turned to Primula.

"This is my pet, Kusai-kun!" Primula sang with affection evident in her voice.

I sighed. "Primu-chan…you shouldn't touch dead animals; they can have all kinds of diseases."

"I hate to admit it, but Daddy's right this time," Kaede said, looking down at the hideous animal with a crinkle of her nose. "Don't you see all those little bugs crawling all over it?"

I squinted, but, maybe because of where I was standing, I couldn't see any bugs on the thing.

"Aww, Kusai-kun wouldn't get me sick! He loves me!" Primula beamed. Suddenly, the thing twitched to life, soared around through the air and snapped its fangs at her. Primula gave a high-pitched scream, formed two large spears of ice out of her arms, and jammed them into the animal, causing it to explode in a massive eruption of blood, fur, bones, and organs, coating the entire family room with opossum innards.

All three of us stared at each other in shock, Primula breathing really heavily.

"I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD!" the kid roared, wide-eyed.

Kaede wiped the blood off her face with disgust. "As I was saying, Rin-kun, would you like to join me and Primu-chan at Sia's this afternoon?"

"I thought he was fucking DEAD! I probably wouldn't have brought him in if I knew he was alive!" Primula continued, staring at the blood-dripping skeleton at her feet.

"Well," I said, thinking about it.

It seemed VERY odd that Kaede would voluntarily spend time with Sia, especially taking her recent, self-imposed reclusion into account. She was acting incredibly strange as well, even for someone as weird as her. On the other hand, I didn't think I had too much to lose by going along, especially since she seemed recently to have undergone some drastic change in personality; this could actually be a legitimate act of kindness! WHOA, whoa, whoa…I need to calm down. She hates me. I have to remember that. I can't get too optimistic about her.

"Alright, sure," I said, and was fascinated to see Kaede give a sigh of apparent relief, which looked very pretty on her. "Look, I didn't get any blood on me when Kusai-kun exploded. Why don't you two girls go wash up really fast, and I'll mop up everything."

"Okay, thanks Rin-kun," Kaede said (What the fuck? She never, never, and I mean NEVER, says thanks to me!), taking the shell-shocked Primula by the arm and leading her over to the bathroom.

"He was fucking DEAD!" Primula screamed. "I even kicked him in the balls to make sure!"

I stretched and took up a mop and bucket to tackle what it is that I do best – cleaning up blood, skin, and feces.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Well, everything has been holding its collective breath for this moment: walking with Rin to a goddamned pointless surprise party, celebrating his resurrection. Although a few days ago I'd have been certain that nothing good could come of his return from beyond the grave, certain new revelations have forced me to reevaluate my opinions on the subject. Now, I'm more half-and-half; certainly, I was ECSTATIC when he died, but also genuinely happy when he came back, and that's the unavoidable truth.

Maybe now that he's died, my revenge really is complete, and that's why I've started feeling romantic feelings for him. Sure, I didn't kill him, but he had already paid almost daily penance and still suffered a painful death. Burying the hatchet might be the best thing for me to do at this point, since I'm in love with him AND unable to harm him at all anymore, anyway. Also, Rin's a twisted killer, and I'm definitely running out of sanity at the moment; it's starting to look like Rin could be a worthwhile person for me to become friends with. He's certainly the most likely to understand me. But I don't know how much hatred of me he's hiding under his dishonest smile…I don't know if I can trust him not to murder me in revenge. It would certainly make sense for him to, since he killed my mom for equally selfish reasons.

At any rate, I'm not at all psyched for this stupid party. What the hell kind of benefit could be gained from yet another opportunity for women to constantly fuck Rin for an entire night? I have always known that Rin is excessively perverted, but I think even he would think that being extensively gangbanged could have its drawbacks.

I would like, with all of my will, to not give a shit about Rin fucking a ton of other girls, but, unfortunately, my heart hasn't been in a place capable of that feat for a long time, although I didn't realize it until recently. Somehow, against all of my better judgment, I've fallen in love with the bastard. And with love comes a variety of useless drawbacks, like jealousy and a reluctance to torture the bitch.

I've been so stressed ever since Madam Moonbite "helped" me. I couldn't even move out of my room the following day, due to a paralyzing flood of emotions: terror in general, endless loneliness, and disgust at myself and the world. I'd still be in my room if not for my role in taking Rin to Sia's, a duty I've been dreading for a long time.

Gods…Primula took her sweet, goddamned time getting her bikini on and adequately "hiding" it with other clothes. We could've left a fucking long time ago…the faster we get there, the sooner I'll get to go back home and curl up in my closet again.

I did wear a sexy-as-hell bikini also, just in case I needed it for something. It does a great job, I think, in capturing the ridiculous fuckability of my ass. My main plan to survive is to appeal to Rin's perverted nature, because, after all, I'm fucking hot. If I can manage to lessen his likelihood of killing me through cunning flirtation, then it wouldn't be too bad to stay at the party and keep an eye on him. In fact, if I did a really good job in seducing him, then I could hang out with the guy I love at a pool party! Not too shabby a possibility. As long as I feel like he won't kill me, then I'm good.

Maybe soon we can be friends again, although, granted, we won't have anything resembling trust between each other.

Okay, it's settled! Plan A: Seduction, commence!

We had only just arrived at my house's front gate; I was gonna have to make this really quick, since this was the only time that I'd have my Rin all to myself.

As we turned to approach Sia's way-too-close house, my heart beating nervously, I smoothly ran my fingers down and gently brushed the back of his left hand. Unfortunately, Rin jumped very far to the right, away from me.

"Ah, I-" I started, feeling totally crushed at his reaction. I'd been kind of hoping he'd hold my hand.

"Excuse me," he said, immediately assuming aggravating calmness and continuing to walk. "I didn't mean to get in the way of your hand."

"Rin-kun, that's not what I…" I said, feeling those awful emotions of dependence on Rin return. How could I have not noticed them all these years! Everything I've done has been exclusively Rin-centric. I can't lose him to a bunch of sluts!

Fuck, I'm being such a whiny little bitch! I have GOT to pull myself together. I am ridiculously sexy, after all; there's no way he can resist me!

"So, are we going over there to study or something?" Rin asked.

"Oh, just to hang out," I said, trying to pump myself up for another stab at physical flirtation. "It'll be fun!" I murmured, summoning all of my courage before flinging myself rather spastically at him and wrapping my arms around his elbow, hugging his muscles to my chest. Yes! Got him!

Rin's face glowered with an emotion I didn't like directed at me…he looked very sickened to have his arm up against my breasts, despite the innocent smile I was giving him.

My heart fell once again. Feeling slightly angry this time, I loosened my grip on him and muttered an apology. What am I going to do? He really does hate me…I wonder how long it'll be before he kills me…

"Here, why don't we do this," Rin said unexpectedly, gently pulling his arm out of my bosom (I silently gasped from the resulting pleasure) and laying it shakily over my shoulders.

His face now bled a rich warmth that made me want to sleep with him.

"A-are you alright with this, Kaede-chan?" he said, his voice displaying enticing textures I'd never noticed before.

I smirked up at him and cuddled comfortably with his side. "Oddly, yes." Ahh…I'm happy, for the first time since I found out he was alive. And I'm not fighting the feeling this time.

"Aww, you guys are actually getting along. How sweet," Primula said. I'd forgotten she was there.

Rin definitely didn't seem ready for anything more sexual at the moment, so I was just content to enjoy the feel of his body around me and the rapid massage of his heartbeat as we finished the route to Sia's. It's too bad anyone else on the planet had to exist.

I REALLY hope my nutsack of a boyfriend didn't come.

Before Primula had a chance to ring the doorbell, Sia exploded out the door like a charging bull. "RIN-KUN!" she roared, colliding with him and ripping him away from me.

"H-hi, Sia-chan," Rin said, and I was embittered to see him smile a genuine smile as he patted her head affectionately. It looked much more relaxed than the one he was wearing with me. Why can't I be the special person for him…?

"You made it! This is the best! Come on in, everybody!" Sia cheered, dancing back inside with Rin in tow.

Primula and I looked at each other with trepidation.

"This sucks," I sighed. "I don't think I'll be able to last long in there without feeling shit down."

"I've never had alcohol before," Primula said nervously. "If you see me interacting with anyone other than Rin sexually, can you please help me stop?"

"Sure," I said, laughing. Naturally, I planned to keep her from fucking Rin as well. "I'll keep an eye out for you. I have a really bad feeling about going in, though, like I'll feel even worse here than I did in my closet this week."

"What's wrong, Mommy?"

"It's…hard to explain. I just feel, these days, like there is no hope. No reason to live at all. There's nothing here on this world but hate." I looked back down and realized with a stab of irritation that Primula had already gone inside. Beginning to sense the arrival of shadowy beings behind me now that I was alone, I hurried in behind her.

"That bitch! I have important stuff to say!" I growled. It seemed my plans to flirt my way into Rin's pants and/or trust had mostly failed…but DAMN was I aching for more of his touch. I REALLY need to fuck the shit out of Rin, as soon as I can. A gently-painful vibration has covered my body; I'm wholly longing for him to consume me.

How can I beat out everyone else, though? Especially when I'm as scared as I am right now. Another emotion I have in common with him…but I don't see how it'll give me any advantage.

I am sick for loving him, especially after how long I've hated him…but, damn it, he's a thoroughly sick person as well. My eyes have been opened; I've got to catch him!

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Well, WOW! Kaede was actively flirting with me…AND she even admitted to enjoying it…AND there wasn't even a Kaede-styled "punch line!" This was definitely a new development in our relationship; she really had changed somehow! The implications of that were, well…massive! Unfortunately, instead of sitting down and talking things out with her, I had NO idea what was going on and Sia was dragging me rapidly away from the main object of my interest.

I'd been in Sia's house a couple times before to study with her (since her ADHD prevents her to focus on schoolwork unless I'm physically holding her in place and murmuring lovingly in her ear.) Sia pulled me frantically through her traditional Japanese home layout, going much further in than I'd ever done, before stopping with me in front of a sliding bamboo door, panting heavily.

"Um…how are you doing today, Sia-chan?" I asked, just to pass the time.

"Oh, just awesome! Although I'm still a little shaken by that psycho bitch attacking us. How are you, Rin-kun?"

Anger bubbled up in me again at Daisy for assaulting someone as pure as Sia. "Well, I'm, you know…things are going, and stuff…"

"Okay, well wait till you see this!" she exclaimed, and shoved the door open, revealing a gigantic marble architecture, that was at least sixty stories high…INSIDE their house! I didn't see how it was possible, unless the Gods' magic somehow conjured up a dimensional portal or something…or maybe just stretched the fabric of reality to make room for it.

At any rate, a far, FAR too tall waterslide was the main attraction, complete with its own elevator service. It looked pretty much like a good way to kill yourself.

There were also several steaming hot tubs, an area with comfy-looking benches, and an elaborately-shaped pool, in the form of Sia's family crest.

Oh, and there were also lots of people right in front of me, grinning ecstatically.

"HAPPY FUNERAL CANCELATION DAY!" they roared.

I blushed and staggered back a couple steps. "Th-thanks," I said meekly.

So. Many. Girls. I'm getting a lot better at suppressing my fears of the fairer sex, but, when they're ALL wearing skimpy bikinis, it's just so much harder for me to not feel a mounting sense of dread.

I tried my very best to keep my eyes looking solely at their faces, but…peripheral vision is a bitch. And when there's THAT much bare cleavage…it was hard not to see way too much of way too many girls at once.

"Rin-kun, you made it! I hope you have fun," Nerine said as she came alongside me dressed in a rather adorable heart-patterned cloth bikini (at least it would have been adorable if she was flat-chested…as it was, it was just terrifying), avoiding my eyes. I guess she's still feeling weird about our interesting interactions last week.

"Yeah, it looks awesome," I said as Asa collided with me and grabbed my other arm (AH! WAY too much bare breast…engulfing my arm…).

"Rin-kun, you're alive!" she shouted, jumping up and down.

"I know, isn't it weird?" I laughed nervously.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sia taking off her robe, so I quickly looked away…the last thing I needed to see was a goddess of beauty like her disrobing.

"Hey Rin-kun, you don't mind that we came, do you?" an incredible-looking girl with honey-brown hair asked, signaling to herself and Mayumi.

I didn't recognize her at all…who the hell was she? But rather than be rude, I just smiled at the darling beauty and said, "Of course I don't mind! Thanks for coming!"

"Mayumi-chan, don't you think it's slightly tragic that you're the only girl wearing a one-piece?" Itsuki asked her. Now, HIM on the other hand, I could have done without.

"Itsuki-kun, I believe the inside of your ass has an appointment with my foot," Mayumi said with a sparkling smile.

"Yeah, it's totally fine," I laughed at them (Asa was still draped on my arm for some reason), "I think one-pieces are awesome!" And that's the damned truth.

"Rin-kun, I think it's for the best that you strip down to your underwear, just for swimming and stuff," Kareha said, zigzagging up to me with a sweet smile on her serene face.

"Th-that's okay," I said, seeing Kaede and Primula come in, also wearing bikinis (I tried VERY hard not to dwell on the obvious exhibitions of their forbidden bodies).

"Great!" Asa said, taking off my jacket and peeling up my shirt.

"No! What I meant was," I began, but all was hopeless. Sia bounced up and yanked off my pants, so that I was now dressed in just my silk boxers (which I was now greatly regretting wearing). The crowd of girls all OOOOOHED in unison, making me much more embarrassed.

"Fuck dog, silk! SILK! You're gonna get some kind of fucking boners up in these bitches tonight, my faggot! hhhhHHHHAAAAH!" Bark said from behind the crowd as Kaede groaned. Shit, he's here, too?

"Oh, you look so sexy!" Asa said, elbowing me.

"Wow, you're fucking RIPPED!" Mayumi gasped like it was impossible.

As Sia nuzzled my thinly-hidden hip, I looked around in fearful panic and spotted Sakura leaning against the wall with a smirk.

"Hey, Sakura-chan's dressed, too!" I said rather pathetically about her. "I'd like to not be as naked as I am right now…"

"Sorry," she said, spreading her arms with a blush charmingly covering her wry smirk, "I guess more people want to strip you than me!"

"Sakura-chan, I would be more than happy to assist you out of your clothes," Itsuki said, sidling up next to her.

"If you even try, I will hurt you," she told him.

"Is it your underwear that's the problem?" he asked, completely ignoring her and crouching to the ground to look up her skirt (Sakura's face lit up in outrage). "OH MY GOD! Rin-kun! She's wearing…"

He didn't get a chance to finish before she kicked him (hard) in the chin, backhanded him across his face, kneed him in the stomach, and pushed him in a hot tub. A general cheer rose from the females (and me) in the room.

"Rin-kun, welcome to the secret spa room of my house! How do you like it?" Eustoma laughed, coming over and patting me on the shoulder (over several women who were crowding me).

"Well, it's really magnificent," I said, very conscious of Kaede's piercing stare. "Uh…thanks for having me here."

"No problem! The future KING OF THE GODS deserves to party in style!" He whirled around and pointed to Primula, who had maneuvered to a turntable. "Cue the music, little purple-haired girl!"

Primula nodded and did so, prompting vintage disco music to issue from the speakers in the room.

I was starting to get really scared, so I tried to untangle myself from the encroaching mob. "Uh, Eustoma-sama, is there, um…"

"Condoms? Lubricant? A high-speed MOTORCAR?" Eustoma guessed with gusto.

"Um, some kind of alcoholoic beverages?" I panted, sliding just barely out of the mass of forbidden skin and hardened nipples.

"Ah! I should have known! A little acid before your ass-grabbin', eh?" Eustoma laughed.

"Father!" Sia grunted, taking a stool and bashing him in the face with its legs. She turned to me once he was on the ground, bleeding from his eyes. "Yes, Rin-kun, we have a refreshment table right this way!" She took me by the elbow and said to the crowd, "Come on, everyone! Let's give him some space! Disperse! Everyone will get their turn!"

My heart finally began to slow down now that I was free and with Sia. "Man," I breathed. "This could be trouble…especially if everyone gets drunk!"

"I'm sorry, Rin-kun, I know you don't like crowds," she said. Oh, she was so WARM! It felt soothing to be alone with her, walking up the drink table together.

"I like your bathing suit, by the way," I said gently, although I hadn't actually looked at, since I adore her too much.

"Thanks," she said shyly, leaning in closer to me.

We made it up to the table, encountering Forbesii. "Hi uncle!" Sia said, waving to him.

"Sia-chan! Every time I see you, you look sexier! It's no wonder Rin-dono's taken such a liking to you."

I laughed nervously and asked for a good drink (I'd never had alcohol before, so I didn't know what I was doing).

"Alright, one glass of absinthe it is!" he said gently, pouring me a glass of cold green liquid and lighting it on fire.

"Absinthe, huh? I've never heard of it," I said, holding it up to my mouth.

"I'll have some, too!" Sia exclaimed. I waited for hers to be filled and incinerated.

"Well, cheers, I guess!" I laughed nervously, clinking my glass with Sia's and taking a good long sip. GAH! THAT TASTES FU…

* * *

When consciousness returned to me, I was talking very rapidly with Asa in a dark room. She was sitting HER FANTASTIC, HOT ASS on my lap and was gazing into my eyes. And I was HARD. And TALL.

"Stuff's jus' jus' jus' jus' FALLING from the SKY!" I explained to her.

"Rin-kun," she giggled. I could smell the strong stench of alcohol in her breath. "Are you totally drunk already?"

She leaned into my chest super-affectionately, and I raised my right index finger in the air as high as I could for no reason at all.

"Well, yeah, I guess I am," I laughed and we both giggled for about a minute, feeding off the joy in each other's alcohol-drenched voice.

The door slid open.

"It's bright! It must be a fireplace!" I shouted, throwing my arms around the very precious, SEXY woman on top of me.

"Oh, there you are!" a figure of shadow against the darkness said with relief in her voice.

"That voice sounds familiar…" I said, flicking my dick to see how elastic it was.

"It's Mayumi-chan," Asa whispered to me, before directing her voice up at Mayumi. "He just wanted to have a second to reel in his brain over here."

"I did?" I asked. Suddenly, I realized I didn't remember ANYTHING since the absinthe-drinking marathon. "Oh CRAP!" I exclaimed, standing straight up (and accidentally knocking Asa off my lap in the process) "What have I been doing?"

"Don't worry about it," Mayumi said in the most soothing voice I'd ever heard her use. "Um, would you like to go relax in the hot tub with me and Matsuri?"

"WOULD I? That would be the best! I love you guys! You're the best friends ever!" I shouted, giving Mayumi as tight a hug as I could. (I barely noticed her gasp as I pressed myself up against her) "I mean, we've been friends since, like, forever!"

"Rin-kun, you're so drunk," she laughed, patting me on the shoulder. "Um…did you realize that you're, um…"

She pointed down at my engorged penis.

"Oh, yeah. OH SHIT!" I exclaimed, jumping backwards and covering myself up. "Mayumi-Mayumi-Mayumi-chan, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I really don't want you to…"

"Don't worry, Rin-kun, it's okay, you're fine!" she said.

"But I…" I suddenly remembered that I'd knocked Asa down. "Here, sempai, let me help you up," I said, leaning over to give the gorgeous SUCCUBUS a hand in getting to her feet. Unfortunately, as soon as I bent over, my spatial awareness lurched and I promptly collapsed on top of her.

Asa just giggled and kissed me on the lips.

"What did he have to drink so far?" I heard Mayumi ask, who grabbed me by the stomach and lifted me off my sempai.

"Absinthe, is what he said," Asa replied. "Oh, and some tequila!"

"God! It's a wonder you're still standing!" Mayumi said, hugging me tightly from behind. "Here, why don't you come out to the hot tub, okay? We'll just go nice and slow…"

She guided me out into the brightness of the GIANT room of spa-ness.

"Mayumi-chan, thanks for being so nice," I told her shyly.

She grinned back at me. "I'd do anything for you, you know. I'll always be your friend."

"Aww," I said, squeezing her hand. "Would you like to have sex with me?" Wait. What did I just say?

Her eyes bugged out at me in shock. "Whaaaaa-?"

"UMMM! Never mind! I didn't mean that! I was just, um, OH! Is this the tub? I'll go right here, then, okay? Why don't you go drink some more, I'll see you later!" I blubbered, jumping into the water.

"Okay, I'll go…" Mayumi said, heading off for the drink table. Whew. That was a close one. It is true that, at that moment, I wanted to fuck her…but I was also aware that doing so would be very irresponsible on MANY levels.

"Okay, so what's up, everyone?" I asked, whipping my head around to see who my company was in this hot tub.

"I'm sorry, Rin-kun, it's just me," that gorgeous girl from before (the one who I didn't recognize) said from across the tub.

"Wait, I'm sorry, who are you again?" I asked her, cocking my head. HAH! I said COCK in that sentence! But, seriously, this girl was like the perfect balance between cute, hot, sexy, and BEAUTIFUL! I scarcely thought a more attractive person could possibly exist.

"Rin-kun, how much did you drink? It's me, Matsuri!" she said with a tender smile.

Well fuck me up the ass and call it Sunday.

"Are you serious? You look so gorgeous, Matsuri-chan, or…-kun…or…-chan!" I exclaimed, and her face skipped red and went straight for a deep purple of embarrassment. "No, I'm serious! I'm…you are…my GOD! How is it possible that you're this beautiful? You're like the best-looking person here!"

"Rin-kun…I…um…thanks…" she said, looking at me for only one embarrassed instant before submerging her face halfway into the water.

"Are you alright? What's the matter?" I asked her, trying to calm myself down. "You don't have to be nervous around me! I'm a worthless piece of shit!" I laughed.

"Rin-kun! There you are!" I heard a voice that sounded an awful lot like Sia's say from behind me.

I spun around and saw her fail at running towards me.

"Sia-chan! Are you okay? How bout that absinthe! That's some good shit!" I laughed, giving her a thumbs up. I suddenly realized that I truly did like her bikini…a LOT. It was made out of a borderline-transparent white, stretchy-fabric of some kind. It looked so sexy that it REALLY should have been illegal.

Just about when she got to the edge of the tub, she slipped forwards and fell on her face. Apparently not noticing, she popped right back up and slid the rest of the way over to the brink.

"Rin-kuuuuuun!" she yelled down at me, beaming with joy. Up close, her swimsuit looked even more pornographic. I tried not to look, but, you know…shit happens. "I love you SO much!"

"Are you alright?" I asked. "You fell pretty hard back there…"

"I don't wanna talk about that! I don't wanna talk about that! I don't wanna talk about that! I don't wanna talk about that! I WANNA TALK ABOUT WORLD WAR TWO!" she roared. Apparently the absinthe had strongly affected her. "With your hotness, and the magic of the gods and the demons…we'll kick those Americans' ASSES!"

Choosing to ignore this statement, I turned back over to Matsuri and looked at her with concern. "I'm sorry if I was too forward earlier, Matsuri-kun."

She lifted her face out of the water. "That's okay," she said softly, and treaded water over to where I was seated.

"HEY! This reminds me of a game I used to play with boys in the palace hot tubs! Do you guys wanna try it?" Sia said, crouching down in front of us. My GOD she's sexy.

"Sure! How does it work?" I asked.

"Well, the guy has to balance a jello shot on his head, and theeeen, um…"

"That sounds pretty difficult so far," I remarked.

"SHHHHHHHHHH, I'm trying to think! Uuuuuuummmmmm, OH! Then a girl has to sit on his lap and lick his face over and over again for thirty-seven seconds! If he spills the jello, then he loses. If he doesn't, then the girl loses. It's THAT simple! It's like the best thing you could ever DO with a hottie!"

"Um, I don't know if I can do that…" Matsuri said in a fragile voice.

"What happens when you lose?" I asked Sia.

"Well, the loser has to wash the other person's feet…is how we played it," she said. "But…often, we did other stuff instead…like…massages…"

"Well, I'm down, if it's alright with you, Matsuri-kun," I told the bikini-clad vixen.

"You…don't mind…?" she asked, still treading water in front of me.

"Of COURSE not! Please, be my guest!" I sang, slapping the water cuz it made a funny sound! (My boner had subsided substantially)

"A-alright," she said and swam over to me, daintily pressing her entire MAGNIFICENT body up against me and straddling my hips with her succulent thighs.

"Oh MY-" I began. Her pretty eyes were RIGHT in front of mine.

"-GOD!" she breathed. This was MUCH more intimate than I'd expected. I could feel…EVERY part of her body, she was so pressed up to me. Most noticeable was the way her crotch was stretched out and squished up against mine.

This was something ELSE. DAMN!

As we looked at each other in terrified wonder, I felt something get planted on the top of my head.

"Ta-dah! You've got jello on your head!" Sia laughed.

"Oh yeah," I said nervously, making sure to keep as still as possible. "Umm, are we ready to start, then?"

"Yup! I'll start counting once Matsuri-kun starts licking you!" Sia gushed with enthusiasm.

Matsuri's nervous heartbeat banged straight through her breasts into my ribcage. "Rin-kun…please…please don't hate me for this if it feels weird," she said, sounding like she was about to either cry or orgasm.

"You're good, don't worry," I said as soothingly as I could. "I'm ready!"

"O-o-o-o-okay," she whispered, sensuously pressed herself much harder into my body, and began meekly licking me on my cheeks.

"Okay! One, two, three, COME ON, you slacker, cover him with your SALIVA, not those little kitten-licks!, ten, eleven, twelve…"

Matsuri switched accordingly and began to, hesitantly, lick me with her entire tongue. Although she was right in guessing it would feel weird, it also felt like we were achieving some kind of forbidden level of intimacy…I was beginning to shake from a need to love her. She was…SO beautiful, and I was accordingly turned on at the moment.

"…twenty-one, twenty-two…"

I was very hard now. The wet silk that clung to me felt even more erotic with her crotch pressed tightly across it…I was going to blow…

From somewhere else in the room, I heard Bark yell, "HhhhhHHA! Hermaphrodites have a penis AND a vagina!"

"Twenty-eight…twenty-nine…"

Her tongue was getting really dry now. I could hear delicate moans escaping her open lips. Her body smelled utterly addictive.

"Thirty-three…thirty-four…"

Her body is so beauty it's sinful…she shyly licked my lips a couple times…I love her…I CAN'T TAKE IT!

My body jerked, and just before she got to thirty-seven, I ejaculated against all my suppressive efforts, jello splattering down onto my face appropriately.

"And we have a winner!" Sia shouted as a now-very-hungry-looking Matsuri forcefully thrust my head into hers and began to hungrily make out with me. She was on fire! I could feel her passion searing through my mind and my nerves as she held me, kissing me really desperately.

"Rin-kun…I love you," she breathed as she pulled away, saliva linking our mouths together in glistening strings.

I stared at her in awe. "You're amazing…I…I don't know what to say…"

"Rin-kun, it's okay that you lost!" Sia said, ruffling my hair playfully. "Here, I got you another drink just in case!"

"Absinthe? Yes, please!" I exclaimed, knocking it back as Matsuri slid off of my lap and began biting my neck.

* * *

I quickly lost awareness again. This time, when I awoke, I was walking all by myself towards a big, giant white cone at one end of the fucking room.

"What the…what is…what is it?" I slurred to myself, not even knowing why I was staggering in that direction.

"Rin-kun!" I heard Bark yell from behind me. "You've got such a faggot-butt!"

"IIIIIIIII knoooooow," I said casually, flipping him off. I began to daydream about going off to an island all by myself, and then a giant panda bear fell over and the ship capsized, and I turned into a MOOSE!

Back in reality, I collided with Nerine.

"OH! Nerine-chan! I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there…"

"Thanks for agreeing to come meet me here, Rin-kun," she said with a sigh of relief. Oh, so that's why I was walking towards her. Her breasts normally look big, but WHAT THE FUCK?…the way her heart-printed bikini thing is stretched around them, they somehow look even more gigantic!

I suddenly realized I was staring. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm like, really, really tipsy, and you're like the sexiest person in all of reality, so I was just like…"

She smiled gracefully and swayed over to me (oh, she was drunk too!), saying, "I think you're a little bit more than tipsy, Rin-kun!"

"No, YOU are!" I said, trying to wave her off but instead rubbing my hand all over her breast by accident. "OH MY GOD, I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Here, it's alright! Why don't we sit down? There are some cushions right here!" she invited. "You look like you're about to fall over."

"Alright, that sounds like a good plan, man!" I announced, plopping down on the same cushion as her. Wow, someone as motherfucking SEXY as Nerine is RIGHT NEXT TO ME! I'd better be very careful not to accidentally molest her…her vicinity was overpowering, her beauty hypnotizing.

"Rin-kun, I wanted to wait until you were drunk so you wouldn't be afraid to talk to me again…it's been forever since you weren't nervous with me…" Oh my GOD she's SEXY! I know she's saying words, but I can't really focus on what they mean when she's so practically naked and so ridiculously sexy AND touching me!

I suddenly remembered that I needed to apologize to her about the whole lap sex thing! I took a deep breath…"Nerine-chan…how much…pubic hair do you have?"

There, I said it!

Wait…

Uh-oh.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed in sheer terror as I ripped myself out of her arms and jettisoned across the tiled floor before she annihilated me with her demonic powers! I can't believe I SAID that! If I hadn't left, I probably would have told her how often I fantasize about being inside her amazing ass again. To a fucking PRINCESS! I'm a nutless IDIOT! SHIT!

"Whoa!" I heard Primula say, and I realized that I was about to run into her, so I jumped as high as I could as she ducked. Miraculously, we didn't even touch each other.

"Wow, excuse me, Primu-chan!" I laughed, turning around. To my surprise, she was glaring at me. "Um…what's up?"

She held up her glass, which was now almost bereft of any green liquid. "You made me spill my absinthe!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Primu-chan!" I said, feeling absolutely horrible due to being the recipient of something other than her unwavering affection. "Is there any way I could make it up to you?"

"As a matter of fact," she said, now grinning broadly, "there is!"

"Well, let's hear it!"

"May I perform oral sex on you, please?"

"Of course, I'm really horny and that would be AWEsome-HEY, WAIT A MINUTE!" I yelled. It seemed to me…that Primula was…one of the ones…that I was NOT supposed to let suck my dick. I couldn't remember why though. She sure seems like someone whose lips I would enjoy around my penis, cuz she's really pretty, and super-cute, AND she's offering! That's not a very oft-occurring combination!

"Rin, what's the matter? How come you'll fool around with everyone but me?" Primula pleaded, her bright red eyes mesmerizing. "I just want to put your genitals in my mouth…what harm could that do?"

"Um…I…" Man, I'm so hard, and she's SO cute…what am I supposed to do? How can I say no to THAT puppy-dog face?

Oh wait. I know!

"Your mouth isn't big enough," I stated confidently. Ah-ha! Outsmarted you, I have. The ceilings momentarily swirled together until they quite resembled an M.C. Escher painting.

"Well I'm sure I can dislocate my jaw!" Primula beamed. "Like a fucking snake or something!"

I patted her on the head. "Maybe in like twenty years or somethingI'VE GOTTA GO!" I lurched away before more madness happened…

….and found myself at the liquor table, which strangely had been abandoned by Forbesii, instead being covered by a dizzy-looking Sia and a brooding Mayumi.

"What's UP, beautiful women?" I laughed, pouring myself my seventh glass of absinthe and lighting it on fire. My leg gave out as I was preparing, however, and the resulting stagger made the glass slip right the fuck out of my hands. "We'll worry about that one later," I snickered, grabbing another one.

"Oh, hi, Rin-kun, I didn't see you there," Mayumi said, getting up and trying to smile at me. She looked extremely pale, and the way she was standing made me wonder if she wasn't trying to contain diarrhea.

"Rin-kun! WHAAAAAAAAAT is THIS?" Sia exclaimed, holding up a bottle.

"I believe…that…that….is champagne," I told her, and she nodded so rapidly in understanding that I was afraid she was going to fall over.

"Yer so…STUpd," Mayumi sighed.

"Maybe we should drink it together…it would be so amazing…" Sia said dreamily, staring off blankly into the distance.

"Rin-kun…I don't think absinthe really agrees with me," Mayumi whispered, suddenly leaning all her wait on me.

"Whoa, watch out, Mayumi-chan!" I warned, reaching back to steady myself. "Right now I'm no more sturdy than…than…than…well, than something that's not very sturdy at all!"

"It's alright…you make me feel good just from being here…" she said, pressing her petite body up to mine. Well, lo and behold, my penis was hard again. It seemed that somewhere deep within my heart I had a strong liking for Mayumi…or else I was suffering from an Itsuki-derived fuck-anything-that-moves syndrome.

"Mayumi-chan," I said stupidly, wrapping my free arm around her small back. She's much more cute than I ever gave her credit for…

"I've been waiting here for a long time…I wanted to drink with you…but you never came…" she whispered, pressing her pelvis up to mine.

"Rin-kun! Rin-kun! WHAAAAAAAAT is THIS?" Sia yelled again, holding up the same bottle of champagne.

"That's, uh, still champagne, Sia-chan."

"I know!" she snorted. "I jus' wanted to try and TRICK youuuuu….and, um, there's something I've been….meaning…to tell youuu…"

I grinned. "Yes?"

She threw back her head and laughed, "You're the spiciest Mexican I've ever had!"

Apparently today we discovered that Sia plus absinthe equals retarded.

"Rin-kun, I have…to go to the bathroom…" Mayumi whispered in my ear, and I got unbelievably hard from that simple statement. Possibly because she was straddling my thighs as tightly as she could.

"Ahh, can you make it there yourself?" I asked her.

"I don't even think I can walk," she laughed, but then looked at me seriously. "I can't hold it anymore; I NEED to pee!"

"You'd better take her there, Rin-kun, or she's going to get verrrry embarrassed," Sia said, grinning at us.

"Oh, alright," I said, stooping down and picking up my wasted friend bridal-style. "Can you hold it?" I asked her softly.

"I don't know…I'll try not to let you down, though…"

"This is the best Christmas ever," Sia said dreamily.

"Hey Sia-chan, do you have any absinthe left in that glass?" I asked her desperately.

"Yes ma'am! Ya want me ta hook ya up?"

"But of course!"

Sia trotted over and tipped it back into my mouth.

And off I went to the bathroom.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Sakura and I had just been talking about how you can tell when guys are checking you out (Itsuki was nearby, staring at our amazing bodies, so we made use of him as a model) when she stretched and said, "Well, I guess I'd better go take a futile stab at helping Rin-kun notice I exist…"

I mock-saluted her. "Good luck!"

After my old friend had taken off, I turned and saw, to my immense displeasure, that the glasses-wearing gigolo had sat down next to me.

"Kaede-chan! How are you doing, fluttering cherry blossom of my heart?" What the fuck is he even trying to say?

"Yeah, Itsuki-kun…that kind of stuff doesn't really work on me," I said as patiently as I could stand to. I tipped the bottle of dry gin that I'd stolen from Forbesii's stash into a glass to refill.

"Well, how about this?" he said, getting on one knee in front of me. I rolled my eyes and looked anywhere but at him.

"Kaede-chan…you are the most beautiful, perfect, compassionate, fiery woman I have ever met. And I love you. I would stab myself for you a thousand times if you'd just let me into your heart!"

I stroked my sore eyes. This guy was a piece of work.

"Itsuki-kun…I WOULD be honored if I thought you had approximately pure intentions at all."

"No, I'm totally, 100% in love with you…"

"And I'm positive that you've told that to every other girl in the school who is under 150 pounds."

"I'm serious, Kaede-chan! You are the most important person to me in the entire world! Those other girls were all just pointless fucks to pass the time! All my entire life, ever since the first day I've met you, I've wanted NO one else to be my one, true girlfriend!"

"That's just fantastic, Itsuki-kun, but I could give a shit less," I told him as I took another shot. "Absinthe?" I offered him. For some reason, the King of Demons just had a shit ton of the hallucinogenic alcohol floating around…although it seemed to be a lower proof than the traditional, brain-melting bohemian version.

"Sure," Itsuki said quietly, so I poured him another drink at lit in on fire with my ligher. For a moment, I could see the molding face of Madam Moonbite smiling gleefully out at me from the chemical liquid.

My heart and body chilling immediately, I scooted closer to him and handed him the tumbler after dousing the flame with a shot of water. "So have you ever thought about the soul, Itsuki-kun?"

"Many times," he said, seeming to get a bit of pep back now that I was right next to him. "What would you like to know about?" What a faggot shit know-it-all! "And I meant every word I said a second ago, you know…"

Fuck, he's still pushing that flirting shit on me? "Oh, be quiet. Anyway, what do you think about the evil in people's souls? Once they're already corrupted, what can you do for the people you love?"

"Well, let's see, uh…" he took a long draught of absinthe. "Firstly, let's get something important out of the way: I don't actually believe people have souls."

"…really."

"Don't look at me like that! Alright, listen, the soul is a cultural explanation for the supposed existence of spiritual, artistic, moralistic, and emotional feelings in people."

"What do you mean, 'supposed' existence?"

"Well, science has proven that such perceptions and feelings are actually only caused by, you know, Chemical A mixing with Chemical B in certain balances in the brain. You tracking with me so far?"

"Umm, I think so…"

"I know you're really smart, Kaede-chan, but I'm gonna back up for just a second to make sure you really understand all the implications of this. SO, if we start with home plate being that such 'aesthetic perceptions' are simply chemical reactions, your friendships, your, uh, your identity, your morality, your sense of family…are ALL just illusions of the mind."

"Al…right?" What the hell is he talking about?

"So actually NO friendships, then, mean anything."

"So, if you're to be trusted, you're saying that your friendship with, say…" I couldn't think of anyone that Itsuki considered very valuable. "Um…well, me? That's not important to you at all?"

"Well, it IS…oh GOD it is…but, you see, the sense of importance that I'm feeling right now about our friendship is entirely artificial. In much the same way, you were super-close to your mother, right?"

"Right." May the Gods help him if he insults my mother.

"Alright, so if your mother was still with us, may she rest in peace, and she told you when you got home tonight that she loves you, missed you, and doesn't feel complete without you, then you would feel euphorically happy, right?"

"Of course!" I said, feeling warm and fuzzy just from the thought.

"That feeling is nothing but empty chemicals burning in your brain. If scientists altered their ratio, you may feel something completely different, OR nothing at all."

"…huh…"

"Moreover, to make it even more complex, each person has their own unique mix of chemicals, which renders everyone's perceptions unique and totally subjective." All personality had drained from his face. He was talking like an empty machine, or a medium for something beyond our reality. "Therefore, there is NO such thing as truth. EVERYTHING you can see, touch, or think about is subjective. Earlier, you were talking about souls being tainted. Who are YOU to tell people that their souls are tainted, when moral truth one way or the other CANNOT rationally exist?"

"But, Itsuki-kun, some things do exist…like, we'll all die eventually, and we're constantly dying, every second a little more."

He pushed up his glasses. "That's just you being subjective again, my gorgeous dear. Who are you to say that when death claims us on this world, life has no further rewards? You can NEVER touch the same river twice…it's ever-fluctuating, constantly shifting, just like the very fabric of our reality."

"…WHAT?"

"Well, maybe that's moving a little too fast for you right now. Let's wind back to conception and sex, because that's the most interesting!" He smiled broadly while I scooted away from him slightly. "What IS conception, alright? Like, how does the process of CREATING a life-fused shell of a body actually work? Your parents participated in the act of causing your existence, right? But they didn't actually fucking ARCHITECT what happened, right? We are just SLAVES; slaves to the chemicals that drive us and govern every aspect of our lives. WE are just empty pieces of machinery, Kaede-chan, driven by goddamned chemicals that do nothing but distract us."

"Distract us? From what?" I asked.

"Kaede-chan! KAEDE-chan!" a brusque voice from behind me asked.

"What is it, Bark-kun?" I said irritably.

"I got my DICK IN MY HANDS! HhhhhHHA!"

I punched backwards in the air, hitting him in his beautifully-chiseled stomach. "LEAVE US! Please continue, Itsuki-kun."

He held up a finger that wasn't either his middle or his penis as he finished another giant gulp of absinthe.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

When I got my self-awareness back, I was doing a shimmy-shake in front of a seated Sia, who was regarding me coolly but was still clearly drunk off her ass.

"More SPICE, Rin-kun! Let me see that pizzazz! Show me what you've got, WOMAN!"

As I continued dancing as well as I could (a constant fight against dizziness and random hallucinations), I came to realize that I was dressed in a tight red mini-dress. Naturally, I was quick to take it off.

"Alright! Yeah! YEAH! Now we're getting kinky!" Sia cheered.

"I'm so confused…and scared…" I blubbered as I stripped for Sia. What the FUCK had I missed? I hoped that, at the least, I didn't impregnate anybody.

"Hey, Rin-kun, how are things going?" Sakura said from my right. I was only barely able to perceive her, my vision was blending together so badly.

"I DON'T KNOW! I can't remember anything at all!" I screeched, losing my balance and being caught by Sakura.

"Aw, come on, Rin-kun, keep going!" Sia pouted. "I want to see your penis!"

"Um…" Sakura said, "Maybe we should go find a more private place to talk…"

"Hm? What? OH! You mean Sia-chan?" I laughed, holding onto her back as I tried to slide myself back up into a standing position. "Oh, I don't think we'll need to worry about her, she's gone totally crazy."

"Penis! Penis!" Sia chanted.

"Well, alright, if you say so," Sakura said quietly. She took a deep breath (since my face was in her breasts at the moment, this was quite an interesting occurrence) and said, "Rin-kun, do you remember us making out last week?"

"Hell YES I do!" I said, finally standing up all by myself. "That was the greatest, hottest thing…EVER!"

"This TV show is SO boring!" Sia declared, watching me intently. "I'm gonna change the channel."

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Sakura continued calmly. "But I just wanted to make sure you knew that, it was something extremely important to me…I wasn't just kissing you lightly."

"Oh, I know," I said with a broad smile. "There was a lot more than just sexual hunger in your kiss!"

Sakura blushed while smirking. "That sounded…oddly appetizing coming from your lips."

"Where did I leave that remote, anyway?" I heard Sia say.

Sakura continued. "I have something really important I've been wanting to talk to you about for a long time, Rin-kun, ever since I first came back into town…"

I'm teetering…I'm teetering…oh fuck, I'm gonna go down!

I reached around, everywhere I could, spinning around, and felt four hands catch me around my chest and waist. After the world stopped spinning, I noticed that the exceptionally lovely Sakura and the quickly-becoming-more-alluring-by-the-second Mayumi had caught me.

"Th-thanks, you guys…" I slurred, blushing deeply. I truly wished I wasn't making myself look like such an idiot.

"Aw, Rin-kun! You're so cute when you're drunk! I love it!" Sakura cooed in my ear, her gentle vibrations seeming to reverberate throughout every nerve in my body.

"Thanks for what you did for me in the bathroom, Rin-kun," Mayumi whispered in my other ear, pressing her burning-hot crotch up against my hand.

What…did we do in the bathroom? I'm suddenly very scared.

"Ohh, Mayumi-chan, it's my turn to have Rin-kun now," Sakura followed up, pressing her voluptuous figure against my other arm.

Um…hard…ness…Maybe alone I could handle this, but together, they were overriding my ability to contain my sex drive. I had to get away before badly embarrassing myself or getting any of us naked.

Bark's booming voice erupted from behind us. "I mean, fuck it! Candles in the bathtub, a bottle o' wine, straight-up gentlemanly SLEAZE, my bitches! I'm going to slam my narwhal horn into your fucking caboose and shit! hhhaaaaaaAAHH! Soul music 'n' SHIT!"

"What…the fuck…are you talking about?" Sakura asked him coldly, although her incredible body felt anything but cold at the moment.

"FOUND it! I, I FOUND it!" Sia announced, swaying over to us.

I cocked my head. "Found what?"

"The remote, you silly TV man!" Sia laughed, abruptly reaching down my boxers and grabbing my still-erect penis.

"AAAAAAAH!" Mayumi and Sakura yelped in surprise, moving to take her away, but Sia was…

THAT was a pleasant new experience. DAMN!

"I'm going to change your channel," Sia snickered, trying really hard to yank my penis off my pelvis. "It…it's stuck! It WON'T COME OFF!"

"Ugh, AUGH, ugh," I panted. It was WAYYY to intense for me to take.

"Frickin…THING!" Sia grunted, heaving it up and down once more. My eyes suddenly saw nothing but rapidly-descending starlight, and I felt myself ejaculate – forcefully – against my will.

When I finally came to, I saw a very surprised Sia, and a less so Mayumi and Sakura standing in front of me, covered in the result of my release.

"Um…" Mayumi said, blushing deeply. Sakura wiped a bit off her breast and licked it off her finger, looking at me shyly.

"Why did the remote EXPLODE like that?" Sia gasped.

"I'll be seeing ya!" I laughed, running past Bark, who was laughing his dick head off.

My mind reeled for a moment, and the next thing I knew I'd staggered into the excessively lovely Kareha, my hands unfortunately landing directly on and grasping unfortunate areas of her AWESOME body.

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry….I'm so sorry, Sempai," I said, sighing and bowing to the floor.

"Rin-kun, don't worry about it! You're SUPPOSED to have fun, it's your party!" she gathered me up in her chest and lifted me up since I was unable to rise on my own (her smell was fantastic). I found myself momentarily spellbound by her intense green eyes as she smiled at me. "You don't mind that I'm here, do you?" she asked kindly.

I laughed, accidentally hugging her as tightly as possible. "Who the hell would mind if YOU came to their party?"

"Oh…MY, MY, MY! You're so charming," Kareha began to hallucinate, wiggling around and acting generally oblivious.

Just as I realized this would be the perfect time to cop a feel, I noticed that Primula was presently tapping Kareha's hip impatiently, holding another glass of half-finished absinthe. This gradually brought Kareha's mind back to reality.

"Hey there, Big Tits," Primula said wryly. Kareha's shocked and violated expression was priceless. "Get me a milkshake, STAT!"

"Um…Rin-kun…is there something wrong with Primu-chan?" Kareha asked me, eyes wide in alarm.

"There's nothing wrong with me, I'm fucking awesome!" Primula laughed with a roll of her eyes as she took a sip of absinthe.

"Well…yeah, I think there's a lot of things wrong with her at the moment," I slurred.

"Rin-kun, you have to be really careful with Primula! If you don't guide her emotional development correctly, something truly cataclysmic could happen!" Kareha continued, looking very serious.

I just shrugged. "If we all die, then we all die. I'm cool with that. My life sucks an awful lot of balls right now."

As Kareha continued to stare at me in disbelief, Primula threw her glass to the ground, shattering it. "Damn it! I'm sick of drinking all this fancy fucking hard psycho drink! I just want some breastmilk!" Needless to say, Primula had won our renewed attention. The lavender-haired youth walked seductively up to Kareha and began lightly stoking her right breast.

"Um…what's…going on?" Kareha asked, her voice a high-pitched whine.

"No one knows," I sighed, staring at the scene in disbelief.

"You've got milk in there, don't you?" Primula asked her breathlessly.

"I will be going then!" I laughed calmly, walking away.

"Rin-kun, don't…don't leave me, help me!" Kareha gasped.

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Primula continued. "You'd better be, you're so fucking fat! There's milk in you somewhere, I just know it…"

"RIN-KUN, RIN-KUN, RIN-KUN!" I heard a hysterical voice exclaim. As soon as I turned my head to inquire as to the speaker, Sia slammed into me. Fortunately, she wrapped her arms lovingly around me, which helped keep me from keeling straight over.

"H-hi, Sia-chan," I said with a faint smile. Her face was still covered with my semen, so I bent down to a nearby hot tub and got some water to clean her up with.

"Taking a bath with Rin-kun…" Sia said, actual tears of happiness forming in her eyes. I smelled her pheromones blossom in the air. "This is…the happiest…"

"Yeah, it's not that fantastic," I sighed after I'd successfully washed off the splatters. "Everybody bathes!"

"Look. LOOK, Rin-kun!" Sia exclaimed, wiggling around back and forth, her bust bouncing around aggressively.

"That's…that's very nice, Sia-chan."

"You can see my NIPPLES!"

"They're…they're very nice, Sia-chan."

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Bark eventually interrupted Itsuki and I again, and wouldn't leave this time (apparently he was "having trouble catching some fresh pussy to fuck"…what an IDIOT), so the two began arguing about their preferred styles of porn. Of course. Douchebags. For my part, I just tried to drink myself oblivious to their idiocy.

"Man, it's like I'm always trying to tell ya!" Bark laughed, sounding very sure of himself. "I hate it when they do those artsy, close-up fucking shots of chicks' naked bodies. I mean, I can't even get a good wank off that shit!"

"Bark-kun, the ONLY reason pornography has any service to society at all is its ability to capture the beautiful, uncontainable work of art that is a woman's body in the most artistically-angled ways possible," Itsuki said, drinking more absinthe. "It is unhealthy for yourself and insulting to women to salivate over them as purely catering to your penis as a semen receptacle."

"Fucking! I don't even know half of what you said, faggot, but porn does TOO have a service to society! It lets me get my rocks off, BITCH, hhHHHHHHAAAH!"

Itsuki gave me a rather skeptical look. I winked at him. The guy's growing on me, I'll give him that. Not only is he a smooth-talker, he's ridiculously smart. And next to Bark, he looks just about AWESOME as dating material. Not that I'm even remotely interested, of course. I'm just saying.

"So, you like hairy or clean-shaven?" Bark said, FINALLY getting up to leave.

I was mildly interested in how Itsuki would handle this one, so I turned to survey him.

"Hairy, actually; I find that it both covers a woman's decency more and is more pure and natural." Well, I can't really argue with that.

Bark sneered. "You're such a fucking woman! I know what you're trying to do, douche, you're just trying to wiggle your limp cock into my girlfriend's asshole! Good FUCKING luck with that!"

I rolled my eyes and scooted over to Itsuki, putting my arm around him. "You may go now, Bark-kun. We'll talk later."

"Aw, SWEET! I look forward to it!" Bark cheered, dancing away.

I turned back to Itsuki, lowering my arm (I noticed as I did that he was actually quite horny at the moment, so I made sure to scoot my fuckable ass away from him).

"So…it seems like you're pretty smart, Itsuki-kun," I groaned, leaning back against the couch.

"YES! My first-won token of praise from the ultimate culmination of perfection, Kaede Fuyou!" Itsuki stood up, proclaiming. I grabbed him around the thigh and thrust him immediately back down before someone noticed him despite their drunkenness. "The first in a long journey comprised of small, indeterminable successes," he continued with a content smile. Man, I could sure use some of his ignorant confidence.

"And why don't you act like that ALL the time?" I asked. "I think you could get a lot more respect if you exhibited your sharp skills of perception like that more often."

"Oh, how perceptive, Kaede-chan," Itsuki chuckled, clearing his throat. "Intelligence, like all other traits, isn't a permanent state of being for a person. What makes a wise person's intellect dissimilar is that it is merely a tool, nothing more, with which to achieve your goals as you need them. Your intelligence is a weapon, Kaede-chan, something that you can hone to perfection. But it doesn't necessarily, after all, have to be a part of who you are. One shouldn't let their intelligence dilute that precise mix of chemicals that makes up one's personality."

"Oh, GOD. I can't stand anymore! Go fuck yourself."

"Maybe we should all go fuck ourselves," Itsuki said very seriously. "I mean, as one people, for all of eternity, we really SHOULD all go fuck ourselves." …What a crazy son of a bitch. "Well, you know, it would get rid of that illusionary, confining-of-the-mind nature of relationships. Relationships, of course, always cloud our perceptions of reality and make us think that there are things worth having a stake in, but…there is NOTHING there. Because, as I said, love is an illusion created by chemicals; there IS no basis for love in scientific reality. Love is a distracting concept that takes our minds away from the enlightenment that we must seek to understand; a true mental grasping of the notion that we are all self-worshipping, egocentric machines running on imbalanced chemicals, which is to say that the purpose of life is realizing, fundamentally, that there IS no purpose in life."

"Hey Itsuki-kun, and…" I jumped, hearing Rin's voice from right behind us.

"D-don't sneak up on me like that!" I demanded, turning around and looking into his beautiful face. My heart was thundering, my nerves were shaking.

"…Kaede-chan…" he said in a soft voice, deliberately looking away from me. He was ONLY wearing these rather fuckable-looking silk boxers which did little to conceal his sexy crotch. I swallowed, trying not to stare. Unfortunately, his entire ripped, glistening body was the only other choice I had to look at. I wondered vaguely why Rin hated me so much when I hadn't given him any reason to…tonight, at least.

"Hey Rin-kun, are you having just like the most amazing time ever?" Itsuki laughed, drinking more booze. Man, he has the most intense mood swings ever. Or maybe it's more like personality shifts…

Rin just shrugged. "This…what I'm doing tonight…is stuff I never, ever wanted to be doing. I just want to…"

I cocked my eyebrow. "To..?"

Rin shook his head suddenly and folded his arms uncomfortably. He still hadn't looked at me. "Um…do either of you…know why I was wearing a dress earlier?" he asked.

"You were wearing a dress? HA! Only you, man. Only you," Itsuki sniggered.

I just looked around sadly, with a carefully-concocted face of pining. He hadn't looked at me yet, so I wasn't going to answer him.

That slut Nerine walked up then. "Hey, Rin-kun! Would you like to join Matsuri-kun and Asa-sempai and me in a bath?" What…the FUCK was she wearing? Talk about screaming for sex. I've never seen something so tasteless.

"Uh, I guess so," Rin said with another sigh. Huh, he really didn't seem to be having that great of a time. Maybe he really did want me after all, and he was pining, too? Hmm…I hadn't thought of that possibility!

I watched Rin walk dizzily back to the hot tub with Nerine and her barely-contained genitals. Could I actually go talk to him? Flirt with him? Befriend him? I was too scared…I didn't know what he thought of me…he might try to kill me! I'm hot for him, but that doesn't mean he is for me. What the fuck am I supposed to do?

"You like Rin-kun, don't you?" Itsuki said, reminding me that he was here. I turned and saw him looking at me with concern.

"Um…" I said, averting my eyes and feeling my face flush. What was I supposed to do? This was still a relatively new development; I didn't even know if I was okay with the thought of loving Rin yet. And I'm scared…I'm just scared of so many vile things and dreadful happenings now.

"You can tell me, Kaede-chan. When you were asking about the condition of the soul earlier, you were talking about Rin-kun, right?"

"It's rude to pry," I scolded him coldly. "And so what? Maybe I do like him."

"Well…I could be wrong, and I don't mean to be getting too personal with you, but you just looked like you were in some distress about the situation."

I sighed and began fondling my glass. "I just don't…well, I don't really know, and I doubt you'd understand, but…I feel…like an empty rift has slowly been ripping my soul and getting bigger…wider…my mind is falling…I once had all the control over myself that I could ever want, and now, it's like I can barely stand up against my primal urges at all anymore…the self that I had fashioned for myself to wear has almost completely eaten me up. There is really hardly any Kaede Fuyou left anymore, Itsuki-kun, and so it's impossible for me to know myself anymore. I mean, if you were to ask me right now, "What IS Kaede Fuyou…" I would probably answer, "Pain.""

"So do you think Rin-kun plays a part in your whole soul degradation process?"

I snorted. "Of course."

"Well then, you should know that Rin-kun actually really likes you."

I turned to him in surprise. "…what?" I whispered.

"Okay, well I could be wrong, but…from what I understand, Forbesii-sama said that me and Rin-kun's souls combined or something," Itsuki said, waving it off like it was load of horseshit. "I don't believe that, really, but something clearly DID happen. I have been getting, well…vibes, for lack of a better term, that don't come from me, and would appear to come from Rin-kun."

"Alright."

"And one of the stronger vibes has a large feeling of care for you, Kaede-chan. Much stronger than I've ever felt for you, and you KNOW I have strong feelings for you."

I smirked. Could this REALLY be reliable information?

"So, I'm just saying, if you want to try and start something up with Rin-kun, you should give it a shot. I think he might be more open to it than you would think." Itsuki took another drink.

"Okay," I said, getting to my feet.

"Are you really going to try?" Itsuki asked in surprise.

"Yes…it's driving me crazy, sitting here, allowing my mind to fall apart even more than it already has." I looked down at Itsuki and smiled. "Let me give it a shot, okay? Thanks for talking, Itsuki-kun."

"Anytime, Kaede-chan. I don't have any will but to do your bidding," he said, winking.

Alright. Here I go.

Very conscious of my body and pink bikini all of a sudden, and the fact that I had NO idea what do with my arms, I started traversing the short distance between the huddle of comfy benches and Rin's hot tub.

"WHY are you going to him…in LOVE? You must go to him only to maim and trick, never to do NIce for him unless it's to hurt him FURther," Madam Moonbite's gooey, diseased voice rang in my head.

"I must do this for myself, Madam Moonbite. This has nothing to do with our agreement," I muttered back, holding my arms in distress. I felt weak, exposed…brittle. My eyes were watering. What if he didn't want me here? I need him to accept me, to welcome me, to reassure me…if he did, then I could be more happy than I ever had been in a long time. But if he didn't…well, I didn't know what would happen to me, but it wouldn't be good.

"Oh, but it does. I won't….SssSTOP you, though. Do as you wish, but he can NEVER love you. You WILL be hurt…he is going to harm you…"

"No…no, he won't…" I whispered with a shudder. Her voice didn't press the issue.

My feet seemed to have more trouble walking towards Rin the closer I got. I saw Asa's smile disappear when she saw me.

"No…he's going to…" I mouthed. I wasn't ready to see his eyes! He was going to turn around! I'm scared! He doesn't like me, I know it!

Despite my silent protests, Rin and the other sluts turned around and looked at me. His face was rather neutral, which was nice. However, my left knee gave out and I fell straight to the ground.

He's going to catch me…Rin will catch me, he always does.

For whatever reason, however, today I slammed right into the hard, concrete floor. I looked shakily up.

The other three girls looked alarmed and concerned, but Rin had fear in his eyes. Cold, pure fear. One real eye, one glass eye; my doing as well. The sight burned into my optic nerves, and my blood turned to ice.

Even worse, I saw my own expression reflected in his eyes. I was scared too. We were both scared; a mutant, eclipsing fear that we couldn't possibly surpass. We would never be friends.

Panting, I stood weakly up and turned around. Everything was connected. All my actions to do the right thing and punish him had annihilated the only true friendship I had. He doesn't love me. He can't even stand me. I'm all alone here, exposed and violated from the injustice of life. There's no escape from this PAIN. I can't feel anything but wrenching pain in my head and a putrid fear.

To my eyes, the entire building turned to black. The ceiling warped into a tunnel pointing towards the night sky, while the rest of the bathhouse began collapsing, not leaving me enough time to get away. I saw an image of Rin and Primula at the far end of the astral tunnel. They were grinning at me with ruby red eyes. It wasn't any kind of grin I'd ever seen before. I didn't even know a person could grin with THAT kind of hate shining out of their face. I felt my insides turn to ash at the sight of them.

I cried out and rushed towards the exit, despite the ceiling quickly collapsing. No matter how much I ran though, the goddamned exit kept moving farther away. I'm going to die! Rin's going to KILL ME!

I gasped and whipped my head around. Another exit! There, on the far side of the room!

I took the chance and sprinted towards the small black shape.

Help…help…somebody help me. I can't stand this crazy reality at all. I don't want to be here, I just wanted Rin to take care of me, or to even give a shit about me at all.

But it's much, much worse than that.

I arrived at the little black hole in the wall and dove in.

"Fucking shit, it's a closet! I guess I'm fucking stuck in here!" I whined in a high-pitched voice. I HAD to get away! But it looked like…I wouldn't…be able to…

Panting heavily, I got to my knees and curled up in a ball.

"I…TOLD…you so," I heard a familiarly twisted voice say.

I looked up and saw Madam Moonbite's nude, rotten, moldy body standing above me, her reeking penis dangling just above my eyes. She took one hand and grabbed the back of my head, forcing me to look up at the hideous sight. She started pissing on me out of her rotten, sickly dick, a spray of green urine splattering off my immobilized face.

"You FUCKING little bitch. You FUCKING little bitch," she began chanting. "You FUCKING little bitch. You FUCKING little bitch. You FUCKING little bitch." I panted and cried as the watery urine ran all over me.

"Kaede-chan! Kaede-chan!" I heard Itsuki's voice say.

Moonbite disappeared immediately, and I fell face-first in her piss.

"Kaede-chan…are you…are you alright?" he asked, sitting down beside me and helping me up to a sitting position.

"No…" I said. I can't stop shaking. I have to get out of here! Rin is going to kill me! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!

"I've got you, I've got you," Itsuki said really gently, holding me as close as possible. "Don't worry, it's going to be okay."

I tried to say thanks, but I just heaved another shaky sigh, leaning into his arms. He felt warm...

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

It came to pass that somehow, someway, Forbesii and Kareha successfully gathered and contained the majority of the drunkards in the room into a small circle, with enough cushions for everyone.

"I'm going to die, I'm going to die!" I kept muttering endlessly.

I was able to barely catch Forbesii saying something about a tonic for alcohol poisoning (despite my world having by that time morphed into a swirling green cacophony of drugged insanity) and the next thing I knew, I was only infinitesimally aware of holding a goblet of some kind, which I heard an indistinguishable voice inform me was filled with some kind of gross-looking liquid.

"Is it good? Is it delicious?" I screamed, faintly aware that slobber was gushing out of my mouth.

After I sensed that someone had affirmed my unintelligible queries, I happily drank the shit, and very nearly vomited due to its sickening texture.

However, within moments after someone took the cup away from me, I suddenly felt much more aware…a feeling that got progressively stronger as time went on.

"Holy shit!" I ended up exclaiming. "That stuff works GREAT! I can HEAR stuff! And see it, too!" I got up and pumped both fists in the air. "WOOHOO!"

Someone gently touched my shoulder (whom I looked and saw to be Kareha) and pushed me back down. "Be careful not to exert yourself," she whispered, "Or you could permanently pollute your bloodstream during the cleansing process."

"That sounds less than ideal!" I laughed. "Sorry, I guess I got a little too happy there for a second." It was only then that I got a chance to see how everyone else was faring. Each looked completely unhealthy, fucked up, and zombified. It was kind of horrible to behold, seeing all these beautiful girls (…and Bark and Eustoma) reduced to such a polluted state.

"Hey, where are Itsuki-kun and Kaede-chan?" I asked Forbesii, who had come back over to refill his goblet with more of the tonic, which I noticed truly was a disgusting-looking, partially-curdled liquid.

"Oh, we talked to them already," the gentle-speaking Demon King said. "Midoriba-san was surprisingly cogent, and he said he would guide her over here momentarily."

"Oh, that's good," I said, feeling relieved. Momentarily, however, I caught myself; why the fuck was I RELIEVED that Itsuki was tending to a wasted Kaede? He might be taking advantage of her! I had to save her!

As soon as I got up, Kareha forced me back down. "Take it easy, Rin-kun…" she said kindly.

"B-but, I have to go…"

"I know just what you're thinking, Rin-kun. I'll go check on them instead, okay? You just relax here." Wow. It's like she read my mind.

I felt slightly more comforted, but also mystified as to why I cared so much about Kaede's potential rape at the hands of Itsuki in the first place. I leaned back in the cushioned seat, enjoying the new clearness of thought that the mysterious tonic had granted me; it was like the clouds had just been ripped out of my mind and I could finally see for the first time. I saw Sia bobbing up and down, saying nonsense rhymes about "her precious Rin-kun" over and over again (I felt bad for her, and felt obligated to keep her from drinking in the future, to help her reclaim her dignity); I saw Primula's bright red eyes encased in tangible sadness, looking back and forth from me to the floor; I saw the deep cuts of fragility in Sakura's countenance…she looked very close to losing her mind completely; and Nerine was just WAYYY too hot, especially now that her entire body seemed to be blushing from alcohol.

In a span of ten minutes, everyone's drunkenness had been healed and Kareha was just returning with Kaede and Itsuki (his arm was around her, which annoyed me; she didn't seem to care, either, which annoyed me even more) when Eustoma got up and walked out into the middle of the circle, one hand down his boxers.

"Attention everyone! I expect that you're all wondering why you've all been gathered here in a circle!"

"Not really," Kaede said.

"WE'RE GONNA PLAY SOME GAMES!" he announced, sounding quite excited about the development.

"Tantric sex!" Bark laughed.

"Oh, that's a surprisingly good idea, coming from you, Daddy!" a now-mostly-normalized Sia said, clapping her hands together.

"Yeah, this SHOULD be fun," Asa said, adding, "as long as they don't degenerate into excercises in idiocy."

I rolled my eyes. "You're one to talk, Miss 'Rin-kun is the Cooking Club's Pony for the Day.'"

"You were the Cooking Club's PONY?" Itsuki gasped. "What I wouldn't give to…" Kaede slapped her mouth over his mouth to silence him.

"You may continue, Eustoma-sama…huh?...WOULD YOU STOP LICKING ME?" she demanded.

"Itsuki, I believe that Rin's whoring-out to the Cooking Club occurred while you were trying on cosplay outfits with me and Bark last week," Primula added her opinion.

"Do what?" I said, feeling slightly shaken, alarmed, jealous, and turned on. I enjoyed Kaede's pissed facial reaction, as well.

Eustoma laughed. "You're all off your rockers! Anyway, the first game we'll play is King."

"Oh, that's a guarantee for a great time, right there!" Nerine cheered.

"As long as certain people aren't drawn," Mayumi said with apprehension.

"Because of the amount of players in this game and the time constraints, we will simply go around the circle once, allowing each person to be the king on their turn," Eustoma said. "Of course, everyone else will draw letters from the deck in the middle. The range will be letters A to L, since there are thirteen contestants and one will be king, and thus, won't draw.'

"Well, that sounds good, I guess," I said, smirking. "But there isn't really a reason to change the rules in the first place."

"And since my niece, Nerine, has the largest breasts out of anyone here, I am going to let her go first," Eustoma finished, gesturing to the taken-aback Nerine.

"Oh, well, uh…" she said, blushing and looking pretty self-conscious (and pretty pretty, as well). "I guess that's okay…"

Bark laughed (he was unfortunately, but probably not coincidentally, right next to Nerine). "Bitch, I just want to stuff my cock in your cunt and FUCK away!"

"Bark-kun," I said, my voice shaking with suppressed, intense anger, "You'd better not say anything else like that to Nerine-chan or, so help me, I will hurt you."

"Oh, so Nerine-chan's off-limits, huh?" Bark said in an easygoing way. "Not a problem man, I can respect that! Nerine-chan's got a really fuckable pisser and a shitter! HhhhAHHHH! Like I told ya, I'd really like TO STICK MY DICK UP IN THERE!"

Nerine smiled at me dangerously. "Rin-kun, do you want to take care of this fool, or may I?"

"Oh, I don't mind! Maybe you should ask Kaede-chan, though," I said, hoping that Kaede would be up for some Bark-destruction.

"What're you guys talking about?" Bark asked, obliviously tossing his hair. "Well fuck a duck, I am so fucking sexy! HhhhAHHHH!"

"Please don't associate me with that cretin," Kaede snapped, folding her arms. I noticed that Itsuki looked positively ecstatic at that statement.

"Are you talking about me?" Bark asked gently. Nerine blinked, and Bark was telekinetically CHUCKED up to the ceiling, where he continued to be suspended in midair, bashing his head continuously like ball bouncing off a paddle. Red splatters began to paint the ceiling with a fresh coat.

His screams were drowned out by everyone else's whoops and cheers in celebration.

After about ten seconds, a blood-covered Bark was slammed back down into his cushioned seat, still moaning in pain.

"Here, I'll help him," Sia said, walking over and using a quick spell to restore Bark's physical condition.

He took some time to re-catch his breath, even after being healed. "Thanks…Sia-chan…" He glared maliciously at everyone else in the room, lingering especially on Kaede. I saw an obvious flash of fear cross her face and I found myself standing up in response.

After a pause, I figured out what I wanted to say. "Bark-kun," I said sternly. "I think it might be best for you leave." My eyes flitted over to Kaede's briefly and she immediately averted them, a troubled expression appearing on her pretty face.

For a moment, I saw a truly primal anger etched on the massive demon's face, but forced neutrality soon succeeded it like a gray cloud covering up the sun.

"You're right, my brother. It seems I'm not wanted by anyone here, anyway," Bark said, standing quickly and striding swiftly out.

I heard Kaede whisper his name, but it was far too soft for him to hear at his distance.

"Hey, let's not let this one little thing dampen our spirits," Sakura said bracingly, touching me on my arm. I plopped down next to her again. I saw Kaede's face darken for some reason, and after a moment I followed her eyes to Sakura's hand on my arm. It seemed that some things would be more difficult to circumvent in order to cleanse the room of dark feelings.

"Oh, that guy was an idiot, anyway," Eustoma chuckled, waving off the matter. "Now, the cards are ready, Nerine; would you like to issue your proclamations as king?"

"Yes I would!" Nerine said, standing up and smiling. "But first, I'd just like to apologize for going a little bit overboard back there…"

"He deserved it," Asa said immediately.

"He doesn't even count as a person," Itsuki said solemnly.

"It was nice to see his blood for a change, rather than Rin's!" Primula said happily. Everyone's head slowly turned towards her. Kaede and I looked at each other with concern as I felt Sakura wrap her arm slowly around my lower back. I wonder if she has some stuff figured out…

Not looking at Sakura, I nervously cleared my throat. "Let's, uh…let's just get on with the game."

"Yeah, she doesn't know what she's talking about," Kaede supplied hurriedly.

"A-alright," Nerine said as she nervously swiveled her foot around on the ground. "My proclamation is that C must spank J's bare ass."

"Hot sex! I'm C!" Itsuki cheered.

"…shit…" Asa sighed.

Laughs soon began, and we thus went back to the party atmosphere…I had trouble shaking my feelings of dread surrounding the relationships between me, Kaede, Sakura, and Bark. I didn't know how all of this was going to unfold, but it seemed as though I'd better put my selection for a girlfriend on hold until the three or four of us could arrive at some sort of resolution concerning our ever-brewing conflict.

* * *

I had just experienced the morbid pleasure of seeing Kareha hit Sia in the face with a chair when Matsuri took her turn as King.

"Um…I have one, I think," she said, wiggling back and forth shyly as we all drew our respective numbers. "It might be a little extreme though. I hope nothing bad happens."

"Oh, it's okay, Matsuri-kun," I reassured her. "Anything goes."

"Yeah, if anyone complains, we'll beat them!" Mayumi laughed.

"A-alright," Matsuri said nervously. "Um, C must suck on the nipple of A for ten seconds." She sat down as fast as possible, hiding her head afterwards.

Everyone said "OOOOOH" immediately, except for me, since I had drawn the C card.

"Um…" I said, looking around fearfully. I really, REALLY hope Itsuki has that A card. Or at least Mayumi or Sia, someone who it wouldn't feel too awkward to do it with…oh crap! Kaede's looking around in fear, too.

"Ah…" I tried to say something, but nothing came presently. Kaede's head whipped around to me, her expression a colorful mix of fear and irritation. She pointed at me questioningly. I nodded as gravely as I could muster.

"Okay, wh-who has them?" Matsuri asked weakly.

I coughed and stood up, holding the C card and looking anywhere but at anyone's faces. I sensed Kaede mirroring my action.

"Oh my god!" Sakura exclaimed, covering her mouth immediately.

"It's YOU two?" Itsuki coughed

"Aw, no fair! I was B!" Asa grumbled. "Stupid piece of crap game."

The princesses both looked quite pale at the prospect.

I looked up at Kaede and tried my best to keep a straight face and not show my amusement at the irony of the situation. She would probably skin me alive if my facial expressions gave anything away at all.

Kaede sighed, holding her head. She didn't look well today. The rings around her eyes had grown to be an even more intense black. I still had no idea what was bothering her, but I really wanted to help her, whatever it was.

Somehow I doubted sucking on her nipple would do much to help the process.

"What should we do, Matsuri-kun?" I asked her politely.

"Just…go…sit down on this bench here," she pointed on the bench next to her. "And…suck away, I guess. I'm sorry, Rin-kun…"

"Well, hey, if you're regretting it…" I said with a bright smile.

"Ah! N-no, rules are rules," Kaede said quietly, blushing intensely as she scooted over to the empty bench.

"O-oh…" I said, trying my best to ignore everyone's rapt attention. Most people looked half-amused, half-upset. "I guess I will then." My life sucks. I have NO desire to suck on Kaede's nipple, and I don't see any way how she WON'T torture me because of this.

I sat down next to Kaede and regarded her steadily. "Well…I never thought THIS would happen!" I joked to try and lighten the mood.

"Stop smiling," she commanded sternly.

I tried my best to frown, but…hell, I just couldn't! "I'm sorry, Kaede-chan…it's just so weird, how can I not?"

"Alright, well…" she jiggled her shoulders around nervously, looking at me with anxiety. "Do…you want to take it off, or should I?"

"Oooooooh!" all the girls and Itsuki clamored.

"Take it off, son! Do us proud!" Forbesii laughed, giving me a thumbs up.

"Suck on that titty!" Eustoma chuckled.

I glared at them as darkly as I could before turning back to my nemesis. Tears were in her eyes. I wondered why…maybe she actually wanted me to suck on her nipple? She HAD been nice to me earlier today. This is definitely NOT a good situation.

"Um…do you mind doing it?" I asked her very quietly.

"S-sure," she said, looking downright suicidal as her shaking hands peeled off one cup of her bikini bra. I immediately brought my arms protectively around her so no one but me could see. Despite it being Kaede's breast, I had never seen something more beautiful-looking in my entire life. The way it moved, its fullness and shape…were something gorgeously alien to me.

Alright. I've come this far. I'm going to just trust that she DOES want this.

Kaede looked at me defeatedly. "Well…go ahead, I guess," she murmured.

Ugh, I can feel everyone's eyes on me. It's a good thing I have Itsuki's perversion to fall back on as a new source of strength, or I surely would already be pissing myself.

"O-okay, here I go," I said with a cracking voice as I very awkwardly lowered my face down to her breast, pulled her torso in closer with my arms, swallowed once, and my lips hesitantly around her nipple.

"Is he doing it?" Sia asked in alarm.

"Yes," I heard Kaede's voice rumble through her breast. Her heart beat is picking up every second. I'm just doing nothing but sucking like my life depended on it. I pulled her torso slightly closer.

"Alright, one, two," Mayumi began counting.

What? She's JUST NOW starting? Fuck.

Whatever. I might as well enjoy this one moment of usurpation over Kaede's reign over me.

I delicately moved my tongue around her nipple and she inhaled quickly (her breasts heaving accordingly).

This was pretty intense.

To my fascination, I noticed Kaede's pheromones flare up intensely; this was the first time I'd ever smelled them…they were really nice-smelling, possibly because they were so hard-won.

"…eight, nine…"

I gave her one last, intense suck. I can feel her intensity and her anxiety through her breast…it's amazing!

"Ten!"

I carefully sat up but kept my arms in place to block everyone's view while she slid her cup back on.

She looked like her world had just been split open, and was shivering even more than before.

"Kaede-chan…" I murmured.

"Sh-shut up," she mouthed, blushing, crossing her legs very tightly, and looking away from me.

"That was…possibly the most disturbing thing I've ever seen," Primula suddenly commented.

"YOU brought a dead opossum in this morning!" Kaede reminded her in outrage.

MAN.

* * *

After we exhausted our ideas for crazy dares, and after undergoing a session of insulting each others' favorite anime shows, Eustoma came up to the front once again. "Okay, hotties and notties, I've got one more awesome game for us to play! Follow me over to that big ol' white thing that's shaped like a penis!"

"You could have just said 'cone,'" Sia muttered.

"But why say a dry, technical word like that when you can say PENIS?" He laughed, adding in an aside to Primula, "Hee-hee, 'technical' sounds like 'testicle.'"

"No, not really," Primula muttered.

Upon arriving at the mysterious white tower, Eustoma turned to us. "THIS is a vacuum cone! Everything that occurs inside is totally imperceptible and inaudible from the outside. Thus, it is perfect for telling secrets!"

"Ooooooooh!" I heard a few of the girls say in interest. I thought this could be nice as well, seeing as I sure as hell needed some privacy. Besides, I enjoyed each girl's company the most when I was alone with them.

Eustoma continued. "That is why, for our final activity celebrating Rin-dono's resurrection, he will stay in the dome and be visited by all the girls one-by-one, each of them divulging to him one treasured secret."

"…I was resurrected, too," Itsuki began, but Mayumi backhanded him in the face for no apparent reason.

"Alright, go on in there! Go on, Rin-dono," Eustoma laughed as he forced me into the all-white chamber. My ears immediately stopped popping; the room seemed actively silent. "As you can see, there's a table with yet MORE alcohol to assist with the ROMANCE, some comfortable bedding, and all sorts of fun stuff! Bwa-ha-ha!" He slammed the door behind him and my soul felt the chill of being alone.

I walked over to the table, feeling pretty nervous about this situation. There didn't appear to be any easy escape…I was trapped! If I had one of my many panic attacks, there wouldn't be anything I could do!

Fortunately, I had a cure for this affliction in ALCOHOL!

"Hmm, I bet Sia-chan will be first…" I said, pouring myself a glass of blue gin.

"HI, RIN-KUN!" …I was right.

Sia trotted over with a huge smile on her face, still just wearing her transparent bikini.

Feeling my nervousness kick in, I knocked back the glass, forced myself to swallow, and came up to her, gathering her in my protective arms like I'd wanted to do the entire night. She was so warm…and very practically naked. Touching the gorgeous girl now, mostly sober, I felt like the most fortunate soul ever to have existed.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked her tenderly, kissing her once on the neck. She inhaled sharply at that.

"Of course, Rin-kun! Being here, in your arms, feeling your boner against me, there isn't any way I COULD feel better!"

"Yes, well…" Embarassed, I stepped away and just held her arm. "Why don't we sit down on these comfy cushions?"

"I'm down!" she laughed, and we both fell down into the softness. "Alright…oh! First, I'm sorry for hitting you earlier! I would never, EVER want to do anything to harm you!"

"I know, Sia-chan, it was just for the game," I said, gently massaging her neck and back and arm and hair. Damn, my attraction to her is skyrocketing now that we're both here collapsed in this softness…practically naked.

"So, I've thought of a secret," she said, her smile disappearing. "It's…kind of a serious one. I actually don't even know if you'll believe me…"

"Well, I'll do my best," I said, knowing full well that there were many things I didn't understand about the way reality was working with the involvement of the god and demon realms.

* * *

Sia spent quite a bit of time divulging to me the presence of another being living inside her. And no, she wasn't pregnant, like I'd at first thought. It seemed the very soul of her unborn twin sister was actually living on inside her, although suppressed and unable to come to her forefront. She was right; it was hard to believe. I would have thought she was flat-out crazy had I not known her for as long as I had and held her in such high esteem.

She indicated that one day, she may start acting slightly differently, and that might be an indicator that her inner sister, called "Kikyou" was in control. I told her that it was a little much for me to take in right now, but that I would try my best to think about what she said and believe her, as well as pay close attention to her behavior. (Not that I didn't already, as she is very likely my favorite person in the world)

Sia departed after a chaste kiss on the lips (which made my heart burn with surging passion), and I was left on the cushions alone. She sadly waved goodbye and walked out, closing the door behind her. I suppose I was a little stupid to expect slightly more physicality.

Standing up, I brushed myself and mentally demanded my boner to go flaccid. I wonder who's next…my heart began beating fast…if it was Kaede…I might have to make a run for it…especially after what happened between us in the game.

Fortunately, it was only Matsuri, still looking absolutely vivid in her beauty. "Rin-kun…I'm sorry it's just me," she said after she closed the door.

I trotted over to her excitedly. "Matsuri-kun! What's up, friend! You're looking…"

She stopped me in my tracks with her outstretched palm. "Rin-kun, I'm sorry, but I don't want to make this any harder for myself than it already is." I could feel her palm shaking; her nerves were shot to hell! I wondered why.

"What's going on, Matsuri-kun?" The way she was talking sounded like she was going to kill me or something.

She took a deep breath and regarded me shyly with her gemlike purple eyes. "Okay…here goes…one, two, three…"

I braced myself for whatever she had in store.

"I'm going to get a sex change!" she finally screamed at the floor, eyes closed. She immediately looked up at me to see my reaction.

"Oh, is that all?" I laughed gently, tousling her hair. "Why were you so nervous? I don't care what you do with your genitals! You'll always be my very close friend Matsuri-kun, who has stood by me through the hardest years of my life." I smiled genuinely at her. "I owe you a lot, Matsui-kun. The least I can give you is my support."

"Rin-kun…" she wailed now, eyes filled with tears. "You're…the best friend…I could ever have…"

"Aw, don't cry," I said, feeling bad now. It really bothers me, at a deep level, when I see girls crying, even if they're tears of evident happiness (or relieved nerves, as may be the case here).

She walked up and grabbed me in a tight hug. Despite it feeling awesome, this act reminded me of the beautiful body she had now. I made sure not to say anything though…of course my carnal desires demanded that she stay a beautiful woman, but my higher reasoning reminded me that I had no shortage of beautiful women in my life, and that my number of true guy friends was drastically dwindling; this could actually be a beneficial development in the long run.

I am SO fucking selfish, I can't stand it. Why does everything always have to be about ME all the time? Gah…oh well.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled my hands slowly through her hair. "Do you want to talk about why you're getting the operation?"

"Ah…no…not right now. I'm sorry…"

"Hey, it's cool! I understand completely how personal this is for you." I pushed her lightly away and bent over so my face was at the same height as hers. "But I just want you to know that I'll always, ALWAYS be here for you and support you. If you ever want to talk…you know where to find me."

"Okay," she said blushing tremendously now that my face was in hers. "Um…I…I WILL talk to you later, okay?"

"Only if you want to," I reminded her. "I'm not ever gonna force you to do anything." I thought a moment. "Although, I still would always like you to be my friend."

"That won't be a problem," she laughed, patting me on the shoulder. "I'd better let you get back to fooling around with everyone. See ya!"

She walked out with a smile and a wave before I could protest that I wasn't a pervert.

* * *

Next was Asa.

"Hey, Rin-kun!" she said, following me up to the drink table.

"H-h-how are you, Sempai?" I stuttered, trying as hard as I could not to check her out in her stunning black bikini.

"Wow, this really is a great stash of drinks," Asa said, her eyes flitting towards and away from me shyly.

"Yeah, w-would you like to have some, um…" I spun one of the bottles around. "…Grey…Goose?"

"I'm down! Hit me!"

We both poured ourselves a glass and knocked back the vile-tasting liquid. Asa promptly had a coughing fit.

"Are you okay?" I asked her tenderly, touching her lightly on her delicate shoulder.

She nodded and pulled me down with her to the cushions as she continued coughing. The bedding was so soft that we kind of collapsed in an indentation together. Sooooo much Asa on me…needless to say, I had developed yet ANOTHER erection, she was so hot.

"I'm *cough* I'm sorry *cough, cough*," she sputtered, clasping her hand tightly over her mouth.

All I could think of was how mind-bogglingly attractive she was. All I had to do was raise my hand a little, and I could touch anything on her precious body…I summoned ALL my willpower to refrain from doing so.

After she finally coughed out the last of it, she turned her violet eyes to me and blushed. I could feel her sweet breath on my face.

"Sorry…so," she said breathily, putting her hand on my arm, "I already told you my biggest secret."

"Was that…when you were telling me about how…" It embarrassed me to repeat it. "You have only ever had romantic feelings for me, and no one else?"

"Yeah," she said. "Well, I mean, I DO have more, but I'd rather not disclose them at this time."

"Oh yeah?" Well, now I was curious.

"So, I was wondering if I could offer you some helpful advice, instead…"

"Oh, go for it! About what?" I said, not caring about the rules of Eustoma's stupid game. Holy SHIT she's hot! My sense of touch across my body is going hyperactive…I'm not sure how much longer I can suppress myself.

"Okay, you told me that you've been having some slight difficulty in reading your own feelings about who you like the most, right?"

I nodded very emphatically, thankful that she chose a subject that I was interested in, so that I could focus more on the meaning of her words instead of her amazing body.

"Okay, so, since I think it's unhealthy for the survival of your amazing personality for you to keep getting tempted by so many girls who can't say no to you, I'll help you out." She pointed down at my huge dick, which was currently climbing up her inner thigh. "This, right here…would have never happened before."

"I know, I know, I know, I'm so sorry," I said, slapping my forehead with one hand and holding back my penis with the other.

"And don't get me wrong, I'm honored that I'm having that effect on you, I really am; but I also wonder how many other girls are inspiring you in the same way. I hardly think I'm alone."

"You're right," I said, blushing tremendously and looking away. "I'm a no-good, self-centered…"

"Hey, don't say stuff like that, it's not your fault that you're starting to get more perverted. ANYONE would with an entire fanclub of beautiful women parading themselves around for them constantly." She touched the side of my cheek and smiled sadly. "I just don't want to lose the pureness and goodness of the boy that I fell in love with four years ago."

"I agree, I couldn't live with myself if I just keep constantly using all these girls' feelings, even unintentionally."

"Okay, then, I think you're deserving of my advice," Asa beamed. "Here's what you should do to find out who you love the most: just picture yourself up at the altar with them, about to be married. Look into her eyes and face as she pulls back her imaginary veil. Think about how you would feel when she walks down the aisle and when you are bound by rings for permanence."

"Yeah?" I said, my heart beating fast. "I think maybe that could work…"

"I'm not guaranteeing that it will, but…whoever you feel the most LOVE for, not just happiness or attraction…THAT's who you should choose to be your girlfriend-slash-wife-slash-whatever. Cool beans?"

"Y-yeah…" I said, "I'll give it a try."

"Alright, good luck! You'll need it," Asa said, patting me on my penis. She then appeared to notice what she was doing. "Oh…s-s-s-s-sorry! I've always wanted to…" She jumped up to her feet and smiled at me shakily. "Um…please forget that I just did that."

"I-if you say so…" I said. It felt really good…I wanted more. Fortunately, I was able to control myself just enough to not demand that I deserved to cop a feel in return.

"Good! And…if you still can't figure out who you love the most, I think the best thing for you to do would just be a blind pick out of all your top choices. That way, you'd at least have some kind of stability and sanity back in your life," she said, talking very rapidly now.

"Asa-sempai…you always give the most awesome advice," I said. "Thanks!"

"You're welcome…uh…I-I'd better go. Um…feel free to ask me on a date if you ever want to!"

"Sure thing, Sempai. You're really sexy. I MEAN! it was nice to talk to you."

* * *

Well, these aren't too bad so far.

This time, Itsuki came in. It seems I spoke too soon.

"Hi, Rin-kun!" he yelled, waving excitedly.

"Goodbye, Itsuki-kun," I laughed, pushing him right back out the door.

"But don't you want to know my secret?"

"Nope, you can just enjoy NOT being in here!" I forced him out and closed the door behind him. "Whew!"

* * *

I was still feeling lots of trepidation for Kaede's eventual visit. I had no idea how she would act when we were totally in isolation together, and I really wanted to get it out of the way. Of course, she had been acting surprisingly more docile and TOTALLY unlike herself these last few days…but that didn't mean it wasn't part of an elaborate ruse to lower my guard before guttting out my stomach or something.

I was mostly alarmed when Primula marched in, surprisingly dressed in the loose, floral-printed pajamas she always wears in bed with me. Her hair was down at the moment, and beautifully flowing.

"I, uh…hi, Primu-chan," I said gently. I hoped this would be a brief visit; not because I didn't like her, but because I was concerned about how much longer I could keep saying no to her when she was so arrestingly cute and tempting.

She closed the door and kicked it twice to make sure it was secure before turning back to me. "Come on! Let's go lie down!"

"O-o-okay," I said, allowing her to take my hand and pull me back to the very comfortable bed. As usual, her fingers were ice-cold.

"How did you like the party, Primu-chan?"

"Mmm, it wasn't really my style," she said brightly as we arrived at the bed. "Until now. Can we please lie next to each other like we do every night?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess…" I said with a sigh. I tried to keep reminding myself how immoral my thoughts about her were as I lay down next to her soft tiny, body. As usual, she made certain to wrap all four of her limbs around me and squeeze hard.

"Rin-kun…" she whispered. "I never want to stop sleeping with you every night. You are the only thing in this world that I even give half a damn about."

"Primu-chan," I said with concern, lightly pressing her tiny back up to me. "…someday you'll come to realize that there are other guys out there who are also good choices to love."

"I don't want anyone else," Primula looked into my face. I could smell her raging pheromones, an exhilarating sensation. "YOU are my one and only love…there is no room for anyone else but you in my heart. All that I am, all of my reality is based around your existence. So, I know you have some sort of moralistic quandary or some bullshit about not having sex with me, but…"

"Primula," I said sternly. I didn't want to go down that road.

"I need you, more than anyone else out there," Primula whispered, taking my hand around from her back and sliding it forcefully down her stomach. I tried to wriggle free but she was surprisingly strong. "Every day that I was growing up, holding on to the hope of one day meeting you was ALL that I could live for. Don't you understand? Every breath I take is ONLY because of your sake."

"Oh, Primu-chan…" I mouthed as she forced my hand under the lip of her cotton pajama bottoms. I realized rather quickly that she wasn't wearing any underwear. Within moments, I was regrettably hard, and she had successfully trailed my fingers onto the rim of her vagina. She was already QUITE wet…soaked, is probably a better for it, like her crotch had just gone down a water slide. It was also volcanically hot, in contrast to her fingers.

"Primula, I don't want to…"

"Yes you do, I can read your eyes," Primula said goadingly as she guided my fingers into her crotch. Her skinny tunnel immediately contracted and she screamed in pleasure. I felt her bubble out much more liquid into my hand.

Before I knew it, my willpower was gone. I pulled Primula's head into my face and started passionately kissing her tiny tongue. The fullness of her breath enraptured me; I could feel her pure love and obsession. I immediately knew the extent of her feelings…she hadn't been lying about their strength. It was like a dam broke.

My fingers started moving on their own, stroking her insides with curiosity and affection. She made loud groans and screams in my mouth, and I could feel her contract multiple more times around my fingers.

Damn it. I'm getting WAY too into this. I have to stop. But it was hard when it felt SO good to have the girl's entire body pressed against me as hard as she could muster.

After she orgasmed for the third time, I finally managed to pull my fingers out of her super-sexy crotch, but then found my hand wrapping its way around to her absolutely adorable butt. "Primu-chan, I…I'm sorry," I said numbly as I began feeling it. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore."

"It's alright, it's alright," she assured me, staring with half-closed ruby-red eyes into my face. "This is the greatest moment of my entire life. You are my lord and savior…I will worship you forever…"

Guilt was quickly overcoming my out-of-control libido, so I FORCED myself to take my hand out of her pants and crawl away. "Primu-chan…I'm sorry, but…I think that's enough for today."

"I understand, Rin…just, thank you so much for doing that for me," she said, eyes, glimmering with adoration at me that just made me feel even more guilty.

"Y-you're welcome," I said. I decided to try Asa's technique on Primula, imagining a marriage ceremony with the lovely girl. In my mind, I peeled back her veil and looked into her ever-beaming face, and I felt filled to the brim with pure happiness. I guess I really did treasure her…but I didn't know if it was love…it didn't really feel exactly like it. But what do I know?

"Come on, I'll walk you to the door," I said, commanding my boner to calm down as I helped her up and carried her to the exit. God DAMN, I felt like a sex predator. "What are you going to do now that you're so soaked?" I asked, slightly fearfully.

"What happens will happen," Primula said dreamily. "I will never be this happy again. Thank you, Rin!" She sat slightly up and kissed me briefly on the lips.

* * *

The next person to come in was Kareha, who seemed quite exuberant today.

"Yes, it's finally my turn! What are we going to do today, Rin-kun?"

I smiled, knowing full well that I wasn't in love with her, just extremely attracted to her; therefore, I wouldn't have to worry about my actions as much.

"I don't care!" I laughed. "Would you like a drink really quick?"

"Oh, but of course!" she danced over in her frilly bikini and poured us both some vodka. "Here you go!"

"Cheers," I said, clinking my glass to hers and downing it. After grimacing but forcing it down, I turned to her and smiled wryly. "Alright; so do you have a secret?"

"Well, kind of," she said, looking at me with much more euphoric intensity than I thought humanly possible. "I sort of already shared it with you, but…like…all those times that I hung out with Kaede and Daisy and the others…I always regretted making fun of you that much. Because, you know, I always knew you were a good kid, from the Cooking Club and stuff…I just wasn't strong enough to speak out against them." She looked down at the floor with a hand on her (large) hip.

"Oh, it's alright," I said, patting her comfortingly on the side of her arm. "I never considered you one of the more malicious ones."

"You're way too nice," she said, smiling gently at me.

"I think you owe me a kiss, though."

"Three times, now actually," she laughed.

"I guess we should kiss thrice, then," I smirked.

"Alright…I'm kind of nervous," Kareha said.

"We should probably just go for it," I said, regretting how much of a slut I was slowly turning into. I gently wrapped my arms around her soft, bare back and pulled her into me as our lips hungrily met in the middle. We didn't use tongues, we just savored the feel of each other's lips puckered onto our own. It was really nice, and super-comforting. The only reason my heart was still beating so fast was because I was nervous about Kaede's impending visit.

We pulled away with a smooching sound and she looked into my eyes with something like awe. "Rin-kun…that was amazing…"

"Yeah," I said, beginning to smell her pheromones all of a sudden. "Shall we continue?"

"Mm-hm…" we kissed twice more exactly the same way, both of us controlling our sexual urges for the most part (although I did allow my mind to wander a bit about the awesome feel of her breasts smooshed up against my chest).

"…I love you," she said very quietly after the final one.

"…what?" I asked her, somewhat alarmed.

"Ah! I didn't mean to…please don't pay that any mind, Rin-kun!" Kareha cried as she backed away. She breathed in and out a few times before scampering away, blushing quite a bit.

* * *

Alright, I still had a chance for it to not be Kaede who was next!

The door opened, revealing…Kaede, as fuck would have it.

"Oh shit," I whispered, although I think she heard me, since her head shot up, eyes flaring fiery blue anger. "H-h-h-hi, Kaede-chan, you…didn't have to come," I said, hoping she wouldn't misinterpret my words. I was only trying to show that she shouldn't feel obligated to come.

The bitch stepped vigorously forward a few times, and I matched her speed walking backwards. What was I supposed to do? She had seemed better today…there had to be some way I could summon that side of her again. SOMEwhere inside her…I knew that the childhood friend I held so dear was still alive…I didn't know how damaged or buried she was, though.

"I see. I see how it is, Rin-kun," Kaede growled. "I'm the black mark on your life, aren't I? The unsightly blemish you just want to do away with before your rise to power and constant slutfucking?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…WHOA!" I said nervously. I was gonna have to think fast somehow. "Don't put words in my mouth like that. I'm happy you're here."

"Bullshit!" Kaede huffed, folding her arms and turning her head.

"…Kaede-chan…you always want so much from me, and give me so little back…I can only logically be loyal to you for long before there's no reason to anymore, seeing as you hate me so much." Whoops, that went a little farther than I'd hoped.

"Excuse me?" she snarled, her eyes a solid blue of anger. "Who the SHIT are YOU to criticize ME? YOU killed my mom, you piece of FUCK! You should be happy I still want you to even BE in my life!"

"Wait, you DO want me in your life?" I asked, cocking my head. "Well, then that changes things!"

"Of COURSE I…" Kaede stopped ranting and sighed, her breath fluttering. "Rin-kun…I'm sorry…I didn't want to get mad…"

…HUH?

She looked up at me, eyes unable to stay in one place. "My secret…the one that I was going to tell you…is that…"

I waited for what seemed like an eternity; me staring at her in puzzlement as she looked morosely at the ground. Just what the hell was going on with my eternal tormentor?

Eventually, she just sighed and said, "…I told myself I'd be able to do it…but just like everything else recently…I don't have the will to go through with it." She looked up at me, the dark rings serving to contrast her blue hues, making them much brighter-looking. "I can't tell you what I wanted to tell you; I just…hate you too much."

"Uh-huh…"

"But, as you said…I still want you with me, whenever you're able. It sickens me, and I hate myself for this, but I love it when I come home and you're there, waiting for me."

"…you do?" I said, flabbergasted. This was the first I'd heard of it.

"So what I guess I'm saying is…" she was shaking a whole bunch; I wanted to reach out and steady her, to comfort her somehow. She looked so fragile. "I…want us to be friends again…but I don't know if we can, with all the fucking many, many, MANY things between us…"

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure we're not friends anymore," I said, looking away. "Whatever companionship we had back then has long since lost its license."

"That's…what I was afraid of…" Kaede whispered.

"But I don't see any reason why we can't give it another try," I said, smiling quite broadly. This meeting was going MUCH better than I'd pictured. Kaede looked up and beamed an astonishingly pretty smile. "I don't think friends have to trust each other 100% in order to coexist, or that they need to have all their problems solved."

"I was hoping you'd say that!" she cheered. "But, what DO you think friends need to have for each other, then, in order to make it work?"

"Well, I guess they have to value each other more than they would value an average person…at least, that's what I think. How about you?"

"I'm not sure…I don't really think I've ever really had TRUE friends for a long time," Kaede said sadly. "I agree with what you said, though. Is…there a way we can get started?"

"Um, what?"

"With our friendship, I mean."

"Oh, uh…maybe…" My heart started beating and I mentally commanded it to stop. "Maybe we should hug? I think friends do that…" Goddammit, I'm so nervous!

Kaede's eyes were immediately full of fear.

"W-well, we don't have to right now," I quickly said. "Or ever, if you don't want to…"

She swallowed. "If I can't do this, then there isn't much hope for our friendship." She balled her fists. "Don't approach me…I'll come to you." Man, her voice was shaking like crazy.

I nodded, heart hammering.

The living embodiment of all my fears and all my obligations began walking very slowly towards me. Any other day I'd run. But if anything she's said is true, then it's worth it to wait…there hasn't been a day that I didn't want her back as a friend.

She had almost made it to me when she stopped and bent over, tears coming out of her ragged-looking eyes. "I can't do it…I just…CAN'T…fuck! SHIT!"

"Kaede-chan…" I said gently, approaching her.

"You get your FUCKING hand away from me! Just GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" she snarled through her tears and backed abruptly away. "You ASShole!..." With that, she whirled around and stalked out of the room.

Well, that could have gone both significantly better and significantly worse. I simply exhaled shakily and tried to get in the mood to enjoy the rest of the company without Kaede hanging over my head anymore.

* * *

I felt very happy that Sakura came in next, although I had no idea why.

"Hey, how are things?" I asked casually, feeling underdressed in my conspicuous silk boxers.

"Fine, I guess," she said, but then strongly shook her head. "No…no. That's a lie. Things aren't going very well for me these days."

"Really? How come? And would you like some alcohol or some servicing?" I winced. Note to self: DON'T DRINK when around girls I am sexually attracted to.

She laughed, however, so all was good. "I'll have some booze to start out with, if that's alright, Master."

"Oh, well I like the sound of that!" I laughed back, stepping up and putting an arm around her frail shoulders as we waltzed over to the table. "So, what's wrong, Sakura-chan? You know I'm always more than willing to donate any organs or body parts for your sake. Money's a little bit harder to come by, though."

"Well, this is really serious, Rin-kun, so please, I know you're kind of tipsy, but why don't we just take a seat while we drink and talk about it?"

I bowed. "Be my guest, Mistress."

"Oh, like a sex mistress?" she smiled as she poured herself an ale.

"If there's a better kind, I haven't heard of it," I grinned as I sat down on the cushions.

"Aha! Well, if you keep talking like that you might get more than you bargained for with me!" she winked after taking a sip. Sakura rather unceremoniously wiggled out of her miniskirt and sat directly on my crotch (sideways, however, with her warm arm around my neck); which felt about twice as good as heaven.

I immediately moaned and she leaned in and kissed me with VERY loose lips.

"Alright, are you ready to listen?" she asked after she pulled slowly away and swung her leg around so that she was straddling my lap. Call me a dirty slut, but…she smelled amazing.

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay; I told you once that I've been having some bad anxiety and stuff due to your whole death thing, right?"

I blushed a little bit due to the entire situation. "…something like that, yes."

"This wasn't the first time that it's happened. I had a CONSTRICTING mental breakdown during my fifth year away from you."

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" I said, feeling a surge of concern and affection for the harshly gorgeous angel.

"Nope. I'm still reeling from the effects of it," she breathed, running a hand through her messy navy blue bangs and sighing. "Rin-kun…I'm ashamed of what I'm about to admit to you…okay?"

"Um, no worries, I'm here for you," I said as reassuringly as possible, gently stroking her arm. She snuggled up to my chest, quite cutely.

"…I'm a drug addict."

WHAT? She is? I sputtered nonsensically in surprise, but quickly reigned my senses back in, wrapping my arms around her as securely as I could. "Wh-what do you mean? You have been, this entire time?"

"Well, for most of the years I was apart for you, from that point on, I was hooked on the demon poppy barbiturate called Roth. Have you ever heard of it?" She looked up at me, her eyes wide, childlike and beautiful.

"No…" I said. "I'm so sorry you had to go through with that."

"It's not your fault; it's my damned family's, since they took me away from you in the first place. I couldn't stand the wait…the what if's, the endless masturbation sessions without any hope of possibly coming true, the excess of wild energy I felt for you…I was just unable to survive with it after a while."

"Wow…I had…no idea."

She snuggled in as tightly as possible and began desperately groping my chest. "It was just such a dream…to come see you again. After I made the decision to run away and return home to see you, I resolved to get myself off the drug before I would let myself come see you."

"And did it not work out?"

"Oh, it did, it did…but then you died…and I experienced the same exact breakdown I had three years ago. I couldn't stand the stark, black fear…all the bizarre hallucinations…even though you weren't even dead for 24 hours, I couldn't even stand the thought of losing you forever. I totally cracked."

"So…now you've had a relapse, huh?" I said, looking down at her rather addictive-looking body. I decided to give in to my carnal desires and at least start massaging the inside of her thighs. She gasped and kissed my cheek and neck repeatedly. "Are you on Roth right now?" I asked.

Sakura stopped kissing me and paused a moment before nodding, staring at me all the while with her heart-stopping teal eyes. "I'm sorry…I've failed completely at keeping this body sacred and untainted for you. I never wanted anything more than to grow into someone who you could fall in love with…but I guess I shot myself in the head on that goal."

"Oh, Sakura-chan…I think you've succeeded. To say that you are unbelievably, jaw-droppingly, mind-blowingly sexy would be a severe understatement."

She snapped her face up at me, looking shocked. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah…you were the first girl I'd ever fantasized about. Trust me on that one," I said, holding her as affectionately as I could.

She moaned and started kissing me more aggressively than I'd any ever experienced before. Her hands groped their way down my chest and stomach until they reached my tentpoled boxers.

Working her fingers shakily under the fringe of my underwear, Sakura looked hungrily up at me. "Is it okay if I take them off?"

"Sakura-chan…I don't know…"

"Oh PLEASE, oh please, oh please, oh please!" she begged me, taking my hand and guiding it to her waterlogged panties. "I can't hold back any longer. I will do…ANYthing if you'll just let me see your crotch. That's…that's all I want…"

That gave me an idea. "Would you quit doing drugs?"

She nodded very enthusiastically.

"Well, I'm going to hold you to that," I said, leaning forward, taking my hand out from her soggy panties and just wrapping my arms tightly around her. "If you really DO quit, I will do whatever you want, I promise."

"…REALLY?" she gasped. Oh gods, she's sexy; I can feel her nipples poking through her tank top.

I gulped. "Yes, I swear."

"Okay, it's a deal!" she laughed, pulling away and grinning at me. "Why don't you come and stay at my house tonight? After you watch and make sure I get through the withdrawal alright, maybe we can make something happen. Deal?"

"Hell yes!"

"Awesome! Well," she said, getting up so that her crotch was at my eye level, "I guess I'll give Nerine and Mayumi a chance at you."

"A-alright, sounds good," I said, my mind freaking out a little bit because of just how sexy I was realizing she was.

* * *

My heartbeat had calmed down substantially by the time my next guest, the ever-graceful Nerine, came in (at which point it wound right back up to top speed again).

"Hey Rin-kun," she said, looking a little dejected or something.

"Nerine-chan! What's wrong?" I dutifully trotted over to her and looped my arm around hers.

"Well…" she sighed. "I just feel like you're slipping away from me."

"Yeah?"

"Well, you know; I'm too shy, you get so nervous when I'm around that we can hardly talk…and not to mention everyone else is super-demanding of your attention."

I nodded silently, not really sure what to do with myself. She really was absolutely adorable, and I didn't want to lose her, as selfish as it was for me to think that way.

"Look Nerine-chan, I guess I haven't been…"

"So…that's why my secret for today is, I know you'll never pick me," she said morosely.

Jeez, was this self-flagellation day or something? Everyone seems to be having inferiority complexes; I thought that was my unique mode of operation.

I ran a hand through my hair and tried to steady my nerves enough to form a coherent sentence. "Um…Nerine-chan…I don't know what IS actually going to happen in the end, but…"

"You won't pick me…we're just not good enough for each other," Nerine sighed, leaning into the side of my arm now. "I love you, and I know you love me, at least a little bit, but…I just don't have anything to offer you, compared to anyone else."

Alright, that's enough. I won't have the fucking princess of the demon realm putting herself down like that.

"You're wrong, Nerine-chan," I told her as I spun her around so she was facing me. WOW, she is hot. I can feel her burning body heat blanketing me. "I know that you genuinely love me, and that's all I could ever want from you. And, what do you mean you don't have anything to offer? You are THE best looking person I have ever met, and I'm not even exaggerating."

Nerine blushed and shuffled around embarrassedly.

"You always understand me more than anyone else, and you're very considerate. I also really, REALLY want to accept your offer and marry you, I'd have to be insane not to."

"But…I just have this feeling…that you won't…"

"Nerine-chan, come here for a second," I said, leading her over to the cushions.

"Oh, I don't…last time, I think we went a little too far," she said in a small voice.

"No we didn't, that was just my immaturity getting in my way of being able to handle it," I said with a smile as I gently laid her down on the pillows and got on my knees in front of her. "But look, YOU are absolutely gorgeous; there isn't another sight, on earth, ANYWHERE, that I would rather look at than you, right here, lying in front of me."

"Th-th-thank you," she said, blushing and beginning to smell quite intensely.

I crawled up onto her and slid my flat body over her very NOT-flat one, delicately stopping so that my face was over hers. "Look…I DO love you, and will always love you. Like I said, I have no idea what will end up happening, but even if I don't actually choose you for some reason, I will always have the same love for you that a husband has for his wife. THAT'S a promise."

"I will…and have…ALWAYS, always been completely yours, Rin-kun. I'm sorry for being so gloomy," she murmured, her sweet breath caressing my mouth. "I just never, ever want to lose what we have…please…"

I ran my hand through her hair. "We won't ever break apart, no matter what." I slowly wrapped my other arm around her back and pulled her in tight as I kissed her. We kissed and playfully caressed each other for about a minute, at which point I was about to ejaculate – again – so I had to request a recess.

She looked much more upbeat by the time she went to leave, delicately waving. I hoped I had somewhat managed to raise her spirits.

"Oh, Nerine-chan?" I asked her before she left.

"Yes?" she said, smiling quite mind-numbingly beautifully.

"Um…I have a friend…who would probably like to remain anonymous…who is an addict of some demon drug called, uh, Roth…have you heard of it?"

"Oh, yes, quite a bit," Nerine said, walking towards me with a look of mild concern. "It's a very, very abusive drug. It does horrible things to your mind's retention capabilities, and pretty much punctures holes in several of your vital organs if the toxins build up too much. It can be quite lethal. Whoever is on it needs to quit, NOW."

"Wow, how do you know so much about it?" I asked in surprise as my skin prickled in concern for Sakura's health.

"I used to perform ceremonies to help addicts lose their dependency on the drug. There is a precise way to approach becoming nondependent on it…the addiction is incredibly difficult to break, even more so than most Earth drugs."

She was saying so much precise, medicinal stuff, but…I couldn't quite take her seriously when she was dressed like she was ready for surprise buttsex.

"Sounds good, um…I mean, sounds bad! Um…" Oh jeez. "Alright, do you think it would be possible for me to perform the ceremony for this person?"

Nerine cocked her head and smiled. "You must really care about this person a lot in order for the ritual to work. Do you?"

I nodded firmly.

"Great! Then I'm sure you'll be fine! What I'll do is, I'll write down some detailed instructions for you to follow that will take you through the healing process step-by-step. Sound good?"

"That would be awesome!" I exclaimed, running up and giving her a tight hug, for no reason other than my horniness. "You are…the BEST!"

She hugged me tightly back. "You're welcome…I'll always be happy to do ANYthing for you, you know."

* * *

Okay, I finally made it to the last person! I've survived this far; I'm sure I can handle whatever Mayumi will throw at me.

She came in looking a little embarrassed, much like several of the girls before her.

"Hey Mayumi-chan," I said very warmly to my dearest friend, running up and giving her a tight hug.

"Heya," she said, pressing her pelvis up to mine again. "I see you're still just as horny as ever."

"Yeah, I'm putting my blood to good use for once," I grinned as we broke apart. "By the way, I just wanted to thank you again for wearing a one-piece. I wasn't lying before when I said I actually prefer them."

"That's great," she breathed in relief, playing with her hair. "I was worried that you wouldn't like it."

"By the way…I've been wondering…do you remember what happened in the bathroom between us, after I carried you there?"

She looked at me with alarm. "You…came into the bathroom with me?"

Well…I guess I'll never know, then.

"Apparently," I grinned uselessly. "But I remember NOTHING, so…the best thing to do would probably be to forget about it, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Mayumi smirked. "But it would have been nice to have some intimate memories with you like that."

"Well, I don't see any reason why we can't make some new intimate memories," I suggested, my face beet red.

"Ah, um…I don't…" Mayumi stuttered, her face also rapidly changing colors. "I was just…*sigh*…I really just wanted to tell you my secret."

"Oh, wow, so this is what it feels like to be rejected," I smiled. "It's kind of a relief, really."

Mayumi snickered. "If I'm sober, you're going to have to PROVE to me you like me more than as an opportunity to just get your load off."

"I can respect that."

"Alright…my secret is, as you might have gathered if you're at all smart, is that I've actually been in love with you the…ENTIRE time we've been friends."

"Fuck! You too?" I laughed.

"Yeah…I was kind of hoping for a different reaction than that on the day that I finally unveiled my feelings for you," Mayumi said bitterly, although she was still smiling. "I don't blame you, though, since your whole world has recently been totally devoured by forces outside your control. But, when I first met you, I instantly felt like we forged a deep emotional bond with each other."

"Right, totally," I agreed. "We both have very similar outlooks on people and life and…shit."

"Yup!" Mayumi nodded. "And I was completely enamored with you at that point. But I knew you were very hesitant to ever interact with girls, and preferred to be as alone as possible, so I just tried my best to respect that side of your personality, and not overstay my welcome. I hoped, of course, that you'd slowly fall in love with me as time went on, since we'd always been there for each other, and were very close, but…obviously, now, any sort of natural trajectory we were on has been totally fucked up."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mayumi-chan!" I said, bowing to her. "I didn't realize you felt that way…although I obviously should have. Well, if you must know…I don't actually love you back yet, I don't think, but every passing day I'm actually finding you more sexually attractive, if that's any consolation."

"Is that just a fancy way of saying that you're finding me less ugly than you originally thought?" Mayumi sneered. Man, she's hurting, too, from this, although she's trying to hide it. I don't know what I can do for her though, my life's so complex now.

"I've always thought you were pretty, Mayumi-chan, I just…never really thought about dating before…well, before my death, so it's natural that I saw you first and foremost as a friend."

"It's okay, it's okay, I know," Mayumi held herself tightly and sighed. "I guess I've just wasted all the middle school and high school years of my life, seeing as there's no hope AT ALL that you could love me, now."

"Um…Mayumi-chan…it hasn't been a waste…I've really enjoyed your friendship. Or are you saying that there wasn't anything TO our friendship in the first place, and that you were just using it as a way to flirt with me?"

"Of COURSE not," Mayumi quickly shook her head. "I'm your friend, and always will be. You're right…it's not completely wasted…even though it feels like it…"

I walked up and hugged her again. "Right now…friends are becoming more and more scarce in my life…I told Matsuri this, but the same applies to you, of course, since you're my best friend…I actually hold you as more important to me than anyone else, just because, without you, I have no friends, just suitors. Or…whatever the female version of suitor is."

"That would be "skank.""

"Right. So, don't be down on us because we're just friends…you're actually the most important to me of all the girls, in a way. Okay?" I said, smiling at her.

"Al…right," she said, her eyes starting to well up with tears. "Rin-kun…I'm sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?" I asked, mystified.

She just buried her face into my bare chest and shook her shoulders as she started to sob. I didn't know what else to do besides just standing there and massaging her quite attractive back.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

The fucktarded party was FINALLY over. At 5:00 AM, no less. I mean, it's fucking bright outside! Anyone who wasn't Rin should have been miserable. Of course, everyone else but me seemed to be in a kind of wavery, pleasantly tired mood. Clearly, no one acts sane anymore but me.

I feel shit BAD about the way I ended things with Rin-kun…I love him…AND hate him, of course, but the love is the more important emotion to me right now. It's the one that's causing me pain nowadays, not the hate. I had set it up perfectly to patch things up with him flawlessly, and then I had to give in to my goddamn fear. I hate myself so fucking much.

Rin was chatting with Sakura and Sia, smiling kindly like he always does, the sack of fuck. Who wouldn't smile like that when they're getting their dick sucked by EVERYONE? GAH, I can't stand it…he might be a slut, but he's still the most important person to me right now. I NEED him to want to think I'm important, too.

Once he's done talking, I can run up and hug him, fixing my mistake from before. Then our new friendship can finally begin! That'll be the first step to sleeping with him. I want to feel his warmth and his passion flood my brain as he rapes me! Yes! Damn it!

Oh shit! He's finishing! He's saying a last goodbye to everyone. Fucking ass, this will be hard to time correctly.

Alright, he's walking out now, with that slut Sakura in tow! Awesome! I trotted behind him, trying to swallow down my fear. I have to think about how much I love him…I have to just dwell on it…I have to remember what Itsuki said, that there is no evil or good…I have the ability to change myself AND Rin! I have the power, it just takes a little fucking courage!

There was no opening. I stood, staring out into the dawn-lit street as Rin walked blissfully with Sakura away somewhere, in the opposite direction of our house, my soul chilling drastically as they went. They were headed to her apartment, most likely, to fuck for the rest of the day.

He never stopped to say anything to me at all…he doesn't care about me anymore, just like he said, and as I suspected…no…

Sakura betrayed me, too. She was my friend. I was just talking to her. We fucking grew up together! We were in the pentagram room together, all three of us! And just like that…both of them have completely forgotten my existence…pushed me out of all importance to them…and in doing so, erased all importance out of my own existence.

I stared, frozen in shock, at the last I could see of them. Why…why did it have to be like this? Why did they betray me? I just want to have them care about me…I just want to fuck him, just ONCE! Is that too much to ask? What have I done to deserve this BETRAYAL? He's still my servant! SHIT!

"Kaede-chan, are you alright?" Itsuki asked from my left. I hadn't even noticed he was there.

I gasped a little and turned to him. Itsuki…he's kind of gross…but he's really smart…and, underneath all of his posturing and elaborate flirtations, I know that he's at least somewhat genuine in his devotion to me. Maybe…I could spend the night with him? It'd been a LONG time since I'd had heartfelt sex with someone. I began to get a little excited. I didn't think he would say no…he took care of me when I was afraid at the party, and he's the only person that seems to remember that I exist now.

The others walked past us as we stood on Sia's porch.

"Itsuki-kun…" I breathed. "Ah…I don't really know how to ask this, but…"

"Young man? Young man?" a balding god walked up in a leather suit, a small blonde girl at his side. What the FUCK do they want at a time like this?

Itsuki looked at me tenderly and I felt my sexy pussy lubricate. "Hold on just a second." At the man he continued, "Uh, are you talking to me?"

"Yes sir, you see, I'm trying to find a husband for my daughter here." He gestured at the girl, who couldn't be more than fifteen. "I had to foreclose almost everything I own after my artifact store went bankrupt. Therefore, I no longer have the capability of taking care of my daughter, but if I can marry her off right quick, she will be safe from poverty and sickness. So, I was wondering if you would be interested in sitting down with us and talking about marriage, seeing as you're fairly young and intelligent-looking."

"YES I WOULD!" Itsuki shouted enthusiastically. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. He wasn't even worth getting wet about in the first place. "Uh, how old is she?"

"Thirteen."

"YES I WOULD!" Apparently forgetting that I existed like everyone else, Itsuki skipped off and walked away with the two gods.

I felt dizzy. No one cares about me at all. My vision turned a shade of sickly green as I swayed down the steps and sidled over to my yard.

That BITCH Sakura knew all along that I loved Rin-kun, and she's riding his cock right now!

Rin-kun could never love me, and he probably DOES want to kill me, he hates me so much! And how could he not, with all the shit I've put him through?

And everyone else either only pretends to like me or openly despises me. What the hell am I supposed to do?

My soul felt frozen. Even in the warmth of morning, every bit of my body felt the chill of absolute loneliness and despair.

There was fury, too. I could feel my face twitching in and out of my control, acting on its own. What did I do…to deserve THIS?

I felt someone watching me. Looking up, my blood chilled even more when I saw the macabre form of Madam Moonbite grinning at me from between the blinds of my windows. She wouldn't stop staring at me with that hellborn eye she has.

I looked down and saw a dead blackbird right below me that I hadn't noticed before. Maggots were swarming like little sperms, in and out of the folds of its wings and throughout the rest of its body. Just like me. No, it WAS me. I was the dead blackbird.

I began to laugh on accident. "...Ha." Absolutely nothing was funny. My world had cracked open so badly the only reaction my body seemed able to come up with was fucking laughing psychotically. I crouched down to my knees and curled up in a ball over the blackbird.

"Hello, Kaede-chan. HAHAHA!" I giggled gleefully. "What seems to be the problem, you buttfucked, maggot-covered, worthless WHORE, HAHAAH! SHIT!"

Still beaming, I leaned forward and pressed my face into the corpse of the bird, submerging my eyes in the constantly-swarming maggots. "I love you, Kaede-chan. I love you, Kaede-chan, you fucking little slut, HAHAHA!"

I licked its ass, enjoying the feel of swarming larva on my tongue. "It feels so fuzzy and GOOD when you wiggle and fuck," I laughed in a low voice. I smothered my face in the rotten feathers in order to get a good amount of maggots in my skin. "Rin-kun will NEVER love you. He might pretend that he cares about you, but he LIES! He might promise that he'll be your friend and fucking care about you, but he LIES! PIECE of SHIT! NO ONE can like you!"

Sufficiently infected, I got up, hoarsely chuckling now even as I seethed in anger. My vision yellowed slightly as I staggered indoors and went to the kitchen.

"He PROMISED…he PROMISED…that he'd be my friend…" I croaked as I took out my toolbox of knives. "But he didn't mean a single word…he will NEVER be my friend…he's a fake! A miserable, perverted, evil, murderous FAKE! SHIT!"

Lurching, I scooted a stool over to the bathroom mirror, feeling the Horse of Solid Black's presence behind me. I was pleased to see that maggots were still squirming and digging in my face. The room was midnight dark once I closed the door.

I have to hurt myself…really, truly bad! I must use the pain to launch myself back to normal…I must wake up from this fear-fried nightmare of torturous dependence.

I must be free…thinking thus, I plunged the Yanigiba deeply into my thigh. I laughed in a deep voice that wasn't mine as I watched with sexual interest at the blood that spurted out.

In the game…the fucking King game or whatever the shit it's called…Rin had to suck on my bare nipple for ten seconds. And it felt so good then…such a guilty pleasure…but now, remembering the feel of his lips just makes me want to scream and kill!

I took up a peeling knife. This should do the trick. I MUST break away. I HAVE to be able to beat him again…make him bleed as MUCH as that fucker deserves, for treating our precious friendship like SHIT! FUCK!

I crowed out in intense pain as I ripped into my left nipple with the peeling knife. The bubbling pop of frayed flesh issued sacredly from my damaged organ. "FUCK! SHIT!" I cried out, in my own voice, as the pain and implications of what I was doing sunk in. I would NEVER have positive feelings for Rin-kun AGAIN! I will beat him and beat him and beat him until he isn't recognizable anymore! I'll bite off his tongue and swallow it! I'll rip off his dick and force it down his throat! SHIT! I kept cutting…digging in my left titty…until the nipple had been entirely carved out. Blood was running down from the hole in my organ, unmitigated and beautiful.

I pulled the yanigiba out of my thigh, finally, with another squeal of pain and replaced my knives in the toolbox, before I made quick to use gauze pads and cloth ties to slow the bleeding down so that I didn't die.

"There is no turning back now," the Horse of Solid Black said from behind me. "Are you ready to recommit to your duty?"

"I know. And yes." I looked up into the mirror and stared into my own maggot-covered, inhuman-looking eyes. The body was the same, but the face was unrecognizable as my own. "I will dedicate myself to causing Rin-kun pain until the day that I die."

* * *

**A/N: **Well then. Thanks for reading! I enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you did, too. ^_^ Thanks for all of your interesting feedback, it was great to know where you guys fell on where you think Rin's ladyspector reading should be pointing.

Lastly, I am, starting with Moonbite Chapter 10, going to begin a new system to keep myself accountable for my writing. ^_^ I'll start recording on my profile page what percentage of each upcoming Moonbite Chapter I have written so far, just so you can know when to expect it, and so I don't drag my feet so much anymore.

So! Stay tuned for more! And feel free to read, review, and to share any ideas you have for the story's future.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Well, it's that time of the week again. A new chapter of Moonbite! Woo-hoo!

I don't have too much to say this time. The usual warnings apply…there's a VERY extended lime in the first half, but it's back to business as usual after that. And I found the lime rather fun to read/write, so I hope it doesn't bother you too much. ^_^

Enjoy, friends and readers!

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 10**

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Sakura was alternating between whipping her arms around in celebration and gleefully squeezing me around the waist by the time we got to her industrial-looking apartment complex at the break of dawn.

"We're here, TOGETHER! I can't believe you've finally come here!" Sakura sang, hopping up and down in place.

I regarded her coolly. "You do realize that we're here to help you get over your drug addition, don't you?"

"Well, yeah," she said. "But you could have gone home with ANYONE, since all those girls would've gladly slept with you. So I'm just psyched that you did listen to me, and care enough to come! And now you're here!"

Dear GODS, I'm tired. There isn't a part of my skull that isn't aching from my lack of sleep last night. This could be really tough on both of us.

"Come on in," she chirped, taking my hand in her tiny, pale one and leading me into the shadow-cloaked building.

We silently walked through the confined lobby and into the tiny elevator. Sakura selected her floor and stepped back into me, her body smashed up against mine. She definitely had the voluptuous curves thing going on.

She looked up into my face and smiled. "I've fantasized about this ride up to my room together SO many times, Rin-kun!"

I smiled back and kept my hands FIRMLY in my pockets, to prevent accidental wandering.

* * *

"Well, I'm going to change into my pajamas, if you don't mind," Sakura told me after we stepped into her room.

"Sure, do whatever you want," I said; she stepped around the corner into the bedroom accordingly.

Despite my aching head, I was pleased to realize that I actually was pretty happy to be here. I'm quickly getting both colder and more apathetic due to the oppressive circumstances governing my life right now, so I'm glad to see that I have retained some of my true emotions. Ever since I first saw Sakura after her return, I've been smitten with her…and now I'm in her apartment. I'm sure I could allow myself a few moments to appreciate this awesome development.

Smiling, I pulled out the "notes" Nerine had scribbled out for me…they were more like a freaking book. She had quite mesmerizing handwriting, however; practically at the level of calligraphy, which was all the more surprising, given how much she wrote in so little time.

I read the first line:

"To begin the ceremony, disrobe the Roth addict (hereafter referred to as "the Subject")." Naked. Of course! Jeez, she gets right to the point! "Speak the following passage while focusing on your desire for the Subject to be healed:BLAH-BLAH-BLAH." I get the idea.

I turned the page and was surprised to find some illustrations. The first depicted a nude woman, with a loop drawn vertically around her (from between her legs up to her nose, between her breasts, over her head, and back down to her nether regions.) I supposed Nerine guessed, correctly, that the Subject was a woman in this case. I read the caption:

"Trace a line of olive oil in this pathway around the Subject's bare body, without lifting your finger until the circle is completed." Lovely. "All the while, chant "Djinn rastiban krie" in 5/4 time." These instructions sure are particular!

After reading through the next three pages, I yawned and stretched. We'd better get started before I get too exhausted to do jack for her.

I walked over to Sakura's room and swung open the door. Sakura was, indeed, in her pajamas (very attractive, loose-but-shaped, floral-patterned pajamas, at that), but she was currently inserting a needle into her right forearm. This being the case, she jumped a good six feet upon my abrupt entrance while making a terrible gagging sound in alarm.

"Sakura-chan…" I said, folding my arms in concern while trying to figure out the best thing to say in this situation. "I thought…you were trying to QUIT Roth?"

"I don't…I can't…I just need to…" Sakura sighed, still holding the needle to her vein. "I'm sorry, Rin-kun."

I realized she was going to go ahead and inject it, so I launched myself at her, knocking her over on the bed so that we were in the missionary position (unintentionally, I promise).

Disregarding her alarmed face, I wrestled the needle out of her hand and threw it away before she could do anything else with it.

"Ohh…I need…I really need my fix, Rin-kun…" she grumbled, jiggling her thighs around in distress.

"Sakura-chan, look at me," I said, looking into her arrestingly beautiful face. She obeyed; her eyes had deep black rings beneath them, much like Kaede's from last night. "How much of it did you inject before I came in?"

"Rin-kun…" Sakura ignored my question, wrapping her thighs around my pelvis and squeezing tightly while pulling me into a deep kiss. OHHH…she's so…warm…

I momentarily fell prey to the spell of her tongue before shaking my lips away, rolling instead into the space on the bed next to her. "Come on, Sakura-chan," I sighed, lightly massaging her arm. "How much?"

"Um…none…" she broke our gaze.

"I'm sure," I sighed, getting up and brushing off my clothes (which was actually just a clever ploy to hide my boner). "Well, I came to help you, on the condition that you WANTED to be off the drug. But, I see you're not actually that serious about it."

I heard Sakura sit up. "Rin-kun! Wait!"

"See ya," I waved with a smile, walking out her bedroom door.

As planned, she ran out and wrapped her absolutely heavenly body around me to stop me. "Don't go! Please! I…I was wrong to do that…"

"Sakura-chan…I'm going to be really strict with you in this ritual…"

"I know!"

"The idea is for you to never use Roth AGAIN after it."

"Yeah, I won't, I won't, I promise!"

"So what the hell was that, back there?"

"I just…I…" she sighed, hanging her head. "I was just starting to feel like I was going insane, it had been so long since my last fix…"

"…uh-huh…"

"Oh! Also, also, I thought it would be easier to go through the ceremony if was already on some."

"Um…obviously, the ceremony would be POINTLESS if you were ON it during it."

"Rin-kun…please don't be mad at me…" she said, her face downcast.

I smiled gently and patted her on her delicate shoulder. "I'm sorry that we have to do this the first time we're alone together in your apartment. I really wish we could just hang out and enjoy each other's company."

"Yeah…but it's my fault we even have to do it in the first place."

"Well…I can't deny that. But keep in mind that I'm doing this to help you, because I really do love you, okay?"

Sakura looked up and smiled at me weakly. "Do you wanna fool around a little bit first…?"

I ignored her. "So, it's either JUST me or JUST Roth. Which do you want?"

"You, of COURSE! You're the only reason I want to be alive at all! So why don't we…"

"Okay, so the first thing we need to do is to go around and gather up ALL the Roth that you have. And, I'm also going to need a few things."

"A-alright," she said, blushing and looking at the list of required items that Nerine had written out.

* * *

We laid out several HUNDRED needles filled with Roth on Sakura's kitchen table (she was trying very hard to hide her face from me), and many household items called for by Nerine on a small, round table next to it.

"Are you sure this time that there's no more Roth ANYwhere in your apartment?" I asked, trying to contain my frustration. She made a grunt that I took as an affirmation. Her head was hanging straight down, her luscious navy hair hiding her face completely.

She must have felt like my negative attitude was resultant from judgmental feelings on my part. But, fuck…if I could live with Kaede this long and not condemn her, then of course this was nothing. I still loved her just as much as before; everyone has their own problems to work through. In reality, I was just a little disappointed that someone as beautiful and amazing as Sakura, who had so much going for her, ended up turning to something like Roth as a way to get through life.

"Hey, Sakura," I said, poking her shoulder. "I really like your pajamas, by the way." It was true…they were quite sexy…especially since I knew that they were the only thing between me and naked Sakura. I just wanted to cheer her up, though.

She pulled herself up, took a deep breath, and blinked quite a bit. Her eyes were red and watery, and she was still avoiding my gaze. "Can we get started?" she mouthed.

"Oh, come here, it's not so bad!" I said with an artificial warmth, pulling her in to a loving hug (mostly because it physically pained me to see someone so adorable look so fragile). "We'll get through this together, I promise! I won't leave here until you're free of your addiction."

"But…I don't want you to dislike me any more than you already do," she said in a wavering voice, hugging me close to her. "And I know you won't like the way I start acting as I get more desperate for a fix."

I massaged her back in a circular motion. "If you want, we can just pretend that I'm NOT Rin-kun, just, like, um, instead…" I tried to think with my braindead mind. "A…therapist."

"A very sexy therapist!" Sakura quipped. Her mood swings always send me reeling. I figure she's forcing herself more than usual this time.

"Alright, so, from now on, just call me Tsuchimi-sensei," I said, breaking apart from her while clearing my throat.

"Tsuchmi-sensei, my name is Sakura Yue!" she chirped with a smile, giving a stiff bow. "I am seventeen, a d-cup, a Roth addict, and I've, well, I've just heard so many freaking good things about you!"

I smirked. "Easy there, Yue-san. Now, the first thing I'm gonna have you do is, um…" Man, even joking, this was going to be hard to say. "Uh…disrobe, please."

"Ah, breaking character is not allowed," Sakura scolded me.

"You're breaking character right now."

"SHH! You don't know anything!" Sakura cleared her throat. "So, I've never undressed myself for a male doctor before…um…what should I…"

"Uh…"

"Too much?"

"Yup."

"Sorry."

"You're fine."

"I know! Thanks!"

"Just…take your clothes off, Yue-san."

"Now we're talking!" Sakura made to take it off really quickly, but hesitated as the shirt reached the base of her breasts. She blushed and looked up at me with arrestingly beautiful eyes.

"Um…do you want me to turn around for a second?" I offered.

"N-n-no, I've got it," she said, her genuine voice returning. Sakura breathed and peeled the tight, thin pajama top off her breasts. I swallowed and looked away, because it was very, VERY hard not to think dirty thoughts about her while her breasts were moving around like THAT.

She untangled in out of her blue hair and shook her head to have it fall flat on her shoulders again. The hair looked…addictive.

"Um…do the pants have to go, too, Tsuchimi-sensei?" she asked waveringly.

"I'm sorry, Sa-, um, Yue-san. It's just the instructions."

"Alright." She put her thumbs down under the lip of her super-tight sleeping shorts, but I could tell she wasn't ready to take them off yet. "Um, just so you're not disappointed…"

"I don't think that would be possible," I said gently. "Besides, I'm trying my best not to think about you sexually right now."

"Oh, it's alright if you do. That would make me a lot more comfortable, actually."

"Oh, w-well…" I can always pretend. "Um…your breasts are the most incredible thing I've ever seen!"

She flushed red. "Even better than Kaede-chan's?"

"Yes." They really were more hot, I thought, although I was a little biased against Kaede, for obvious reasons.

She sighed and smiled. "Alright. Thank you, Tsuchimi-sensei." Sakura wiggled her hips around for a little bit. Which was awesome. "Anyway…I…um…I don't shave, is-IS THAT OKAY?"

"Oh, is that all you were worried about?" I laughed. "I thought you were going to say you aren't a virgin or something."

"Oh, yep, I'm still unopened."

"That's good. But, yeah, I don't care! Go for it, Yue-san!"

"Right," she breathed. Sakura closed her eyes and wiggled sensuously out of her shorts. I swallowed and averted my eyes; just the act of her undressing was making me CRAZY hard, despite my efforts to not think about her in sexual ways.

"Okay, what now?" Sakura asked. I returned my gaze and saw her looking askance, holding her arm awkwardly. I supposed I had better say something…although I hardly knew what to say that could possibly capture the surreal, dreamlike, spiritual beauty that her bare form currently emanated. Well, I suppose I could just say that. Here we go!

"Sakura-chan…you look…SO beautiful! I mean, so beautiful that it's almost surreal…dreamlike, and, um…spiritual."

"Thank you," she murmured, slowly walking over to me. A blast of fear hit me as she approached, but I inwardly told it to fuck off.

I tried to suppress my nervousness. "The first thing I have to do is tell you how I feel about you."

"Oh really?" Sakura beamed.

"Sakura-chan…or…Yue-san, if you'd prefer; I adore you. I feel unworthy to be the object of your affections, let alone your friend, but I am happy to be so, since it makes you pleased. Someone as amazing, selfless, and loyal as you deserves to have an endless array of suitors and servants at their beck and call. And, I love you."

"Th-thank you…" she said, looking very surprised and raspberry-red.

"Um…you should know that I will always love you, no matter what happens; that includes this situation with the Roth; and I'll always be thrilled to protect you, defend you, and pledge myself in your service."

"W-wow…"

"Let's see…oh! You were the best childhood friend a person could ask for, and I owe you more than I could ever possibly put into words. And, uh…I wish…that it was you that lived with all these years, not Kaede-chan."

Wide-eyed, Sakura nodded. "I wish so, too."

"That's about it, I guess. Okay, now, we're gonna need some olive oil," I said pleasantly, turning to the table tipping the bottle so that a bit fell onto my fingers.

"For what?"

"I'm, um…going to draw a circle around your body. Um. With…with…my fingers." I wish my dick wasn't so hard. Makes it difficult to think.

"Oh, okay. Draw away, Tsuchimi-sensei." Sakura gave a satisfied smile and bent her AWESOME hip towards me.

Hoo-boy. This is really happening.

"Djinn rastiban krie," I said, stepping to her and lightly planting my fingertips to her nose.

She smiled and laughed. "What'd you just say?"

I traced my fingers down around the curve of her nose, repeating the words and focusing on my love for her.

"Oh, is it some sort of incantation? I get it."

Continuing to speak the phrase, I hesitantly dipped my wet fingers across her luscious lips; the ones I'd kissed not ten minutes ago. I tried my best to dwell my thoughts only on how much I worshipped her, how holy she was to me. I traced her thin neckline and plunged down towards the first danger zone. I reminded myself how badly I wanted her to get well.

"Djinn rastiban krie." Sakura took a deep breath as my fingers went down the line between her quite substantial breasts. I gulped and repeated the words as she sighed.

So. Much. Boobs. It was kind of like reaching for a lost tooth in between your pillows or something…but somehow much more fantastic than can be captured in words.

I love you, Sakura-chan. I will make this right.

Her breasts flopped gently when my fingers crossed to her stomach.

"Djinn rastiban krie." I went down to her belly button. Sakura hissed, her legs squeezing together. Her smell was getting VERY strong.

My fingers reached the very start of her navy blue bush. She started panting, her body shaking as my hand descended.

I tried to be respectful of her with my thoughts, focusing SOLELY on how much I care for her. Repeating the phrase, I combed my fingers through her tangled blue pubic hair.

"Oh, Rin-kun, don't…please…stop," Sakura gasped.

I didn't really have any choice but to go on, having come this far. On my knees, I swallowed, said the weird incantation again, and continued my descent to the tip of her crotch.

"NNNNGGG!"

Her legs were squeezed tightly together, so I rammed them with my fingers a couple times. I didn't think I was supposed to stop saying the words.

After a moment's hesitation, Sakura subtly spread her legs, stink billowing out from the opened area.

Here we go.

I winced and dragged my fingers over her white-hot, flooded lips.

"KAAAA!" she screamed, clamping her legs shut again; this time around my hand. White liquid seeped out onto my arm, utterly drenching my hand. It was a long one. She kept squeezing, and white kept flowing out.

If she orgasmed NOW…I wondered what she would be like if we ever actually had sex. She would probably explode or drop dead on the spot.

…It was probably best not to dwell on that.

But, hell, she came even faster than Primula!

…I said, DROP IT!

Deciding to ignore the coating of Sakura's cum on my hand, for now, I wiggled my hand back and forth, since it was still clamped between her legs and now approximately 100 degrees Celsius.

"Oh Rin-kun…hhhhh…I-I don't…"

I don't know what she was trying to say, if anything, but she did get her legs back open for me. I cautiously skimmed my fingers over the rest of her small crotch and lifted them directly up her ass crack.

Possibly because I was now effectively cupping her entire nether region, Sakura gave another high-pitched shriek and came…again…onto my forearm. Man, she's like a freaking machine.

Wet. So very, very wet.

"Djinn rastiban krie." It was gonna be a little tricky to finish the circle without lifting my fingers at all. I lifted my fingers a bit more sliding over her asshole.

"Rin-kun…" Sakura ground out.

I hope she realized that I was going to have to slide between her legs. Oh well, she'll figure it out.

I gulped and pressed my head lightly against her shivering legs.

"Oh!" she said, opening them.

It was a tight fit, but I pulled myself very awkwardly through, keeping my fingers firmly planted in her asshole. The especially difficult part was turning myself around after clearing her legs, but I somehow was able to contort my body just enough to school it!

The rest of the circle was much less eventful. I was finally able to focus again on the feelings I had for Sakura as I continued chanting and traced the outline of her very beautiful back. I was a bit hesitant to get the mixture of cum and olive oil into her hair, but, well…what had to be done had to be done, I guess.

When my fingers reached the top of her skull, I spun around her like a (gay) dancer and brought them down, slowly, to her nose.

"Djinn rastiban krie," I said with a smile. We're done! I did it!

Sakura looked at me with something akin to fascinated wonder. "Rin-kun…I love you!"

"I love you too, Sakura-chan." Time for part two. I stooped down and scooped her light body into my arms. Her butt is so freaking sexy!

"Oh my!" she said, still staring hungrily into my eyes. "What now?"

"I have to say another spell, and then I'm going to prepare the place for you to lay."

"Alright."

Man, her nipples are HARD!

…snap out of it, self.

As I accidentally squeezed her amazing butt a couple times (here, she writhed accordingly), I read off the spell: "Emen uberth ku-hota. Untein devala qorin qaetesh, blye." I took one hand off her sexy ass and used that arm to support the whole of her body as I took a can of garlic from the stand and sprinkled it in a zigzag-symbol (I copied Nerine's drawing) in the middle of the ring of needles.

I put it down as fast as I could so that I could re-secure my grip on Sakura. I repeated the same spell, adding the clause "thorrit kariot-gen advaeloc." That finished, I gently laid Sakura on the table, so that every part of her body was touching the handle of a needle and so that the small of back covered the garlic symbol.

Next, I picked up a can of tobacco and wrapped a small bit of it around my finger (the one not covered with her cum). "Harikari gendo furour, mariten, Sakura Yue."

Nerine's instruction called for drawing a ribbon-like pattern over the subject's heart. However, since she was very busty…

I tried not to think about how pleasant and gorgeous her breast was, nor about the way it jiggled around in answer to my drawing, nor about her heavy breathing…but I couldn't help it.

Just as I was making my fourth swoop out of six across the surface of her breast, Sakura's face scrunched up and she hissed through her mouth.

Had she just...? I looked down to her crotch. Yep. Yep, she had. Man, she sure is sensitive. Or turned on. Or both.

"I'm sorry, Rin-kun," she said, averting her red-rimmed eyes and breathing raggedly. "I'm really pathetic, aren't I?'

"No, you're not," I said, leaning down and kissing her on the lips. "You're incredible. Let's keep going."

After I finished with the design (not too shabbily-done, if I do say so myself) I sat down on the chair so that I was surveying her body.

Panting, Sakura looked over at me. "What's…what's next?"

"Well, that was part two."

"How many parts are there?"

"Five."

"Sweet!"

"The thing is, this is the part that majorly slows things down."

"May I ask why?"

"This part requires you to sit here, surrounded by the needles, for one hour exactly. You must overcome the very powerful temptation to do it."

Sakura sat abruptly up. "Well, we gave it our best shot! I guess it's time to give up and go to bed!"

I stood up and put my hands on her tiny shoulders. "Sakura-chan, lay back down. Don't worry, I'm right here with you," I said in what I hoped was a strong voice.

"Bullshit!" she said, now wearing a slightly deranged smile. "I can't fucking last for one HOUR, surrounded by this smack!"

"I'm here to help you, Sakura-chan."

She laughed hollowly. "Rin-kun…right now, ALL I can see is Roth. Even looking at you, right now, I just see a needle. I might act strong, but…I'm just barely hanging on. Surrounded by this shit, I can't even stand to FUCK! I really, really, REALLY just want to drink the shit straight."

Man, she was kind of having a breakdown or something.

I again pushed her down on her back.

"NO! NO!" she said, barking the word like a ferocious dog, flailing her legs and sending numerous needles scattering. "Let me get out of here!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"NO!"

"SAKURA YUE!"

"Nnng!" she glared at me, slamming her head back. "Fuck you, Rin-kun, I thought you said you loved me. You're making me do this?"

What the hell is her damn problem?

"Don't expect me to respond to that."

"FUCK you. You don't love me. You might think you do, but it's only until we part, then you LOOOOoooOOVE whoever else you come into contact with. You couldn't ever love me! Piece of SHIT! EVEN though I've given up so much FUCKING shit for you!"

"SAKURA! Pull yourself together!" I screamed at her. It was like she was channeling Kaede or something.

She continued to glare while flipping me off with both hands.

"Alright, Sakura-chan, here's how this is going to work. You CAN just lie here and try your very best, on your own, to not use Roth. Can you do that?"

"FUCK NO, you douchebag! Weren't you LISTENING?"

"That is correct. No one expects you to. I'M supposed to be your lifeline. Just say my name, and I'll be here to bail you out."

She heaved several more deep breaths. At least her eyes had gotten a bit warmer.

"You're supposed to, like, replace me with your addiction by doing…whatever you want. So; what would work best for you?"

Sakura glared at me again, for no reason that I could see, and whipped her head to the side. "I'm tired of this. I want to be an addict. You'll never love me; I can always depend on Roth to love me."

"Yeah, until it KILLS you."

"Better dying while in love with a drug than dying in blissful dedication to a FAKE love! At least that shit's REAL!"

I rubbed my direly sore eyes. My headache was getting worse and worse. I could barely think, so there was no way I'd be able to outsmart her.

"Sakura-chan…do you want me to kiss you for your lifeline?"

"…what?"

"Or I could, um…uh…fondle you…or…" I was getting too embarrassed to talk.

"Damn it, I don't want that kind of shit!" Sakura sneered. The corneas in her eyes had expanded so much that they had nearly consumed each eye with bright turquoise.

"Is there anything you do want?"

"Yes! Are we on the clock now?"

"…On the clock?"

"You dumb fuck! Is this part of the hour yet, or not?"

"Yeah…this whole conversation has counted so far. You haven't used any needles yet, have you?"

"Good! Come here," she beckoned. I stepped a little closer, my heart beating heavily. I wondered what she wanted…

"NG, AH!" I gasped in surprise when she whipped her hand down my pants and silk boxers, clasping my cock and balls and squeezing them repeatedly.

"Ah, Sakura-chan…"

"I'm taking you," Sakura said, sneering up at me as she began to play with my dick between her fingers. "My lifeline is taking you against your will."

"Well, okay, I don't…" I said, but was interrupted by own need to groan.

"You're getting harder already, huh?" She continued to explore my crotch with my fingers. "That's good. I want to feel you ejaculate uncontrollably in my hands."

"That…shouldn't be a problem," I huffed while she continued to jerk it around.

""Don't…ENJOY it!" Sakura growled, moving her fingers down to my scrotum and playing around with it, too.

I clamped up again, my balls screaming out with discomfort as she squeezed them between her fingernails.

"Rin-kun…Rin-kun…" she said, staring hedonistically into my face as she continued to play with my balls, but reached two of her fingers back up to gently stimulate my cock. "I'm tired of EVERYONE slamming themselves all over you, and offering themselves up to you. You were, and have ALWAYS been, MY sun and MY moon; you are the only thing that I ever lived for as a kid, and EVERY day when I was away, I held my pillow tightly to my chest, pretending it was you. I need you like I need food and sleep. Life's not worth living at all if you're not here with me." Her hand wrapped firmly around my cock and continued to work it roughly. "It hurts me so BADLY to see you covered with all these beautiful, perfect girls."

"MM…mm…" I couldn't help but receive huge enjoyment from her tight grip.

"I wouldn't have ever done this before, Rin-kun…even though I've always wanted to…I mean, every time we'd go to the pool as kids, I always wanted to reach down your swimming trunks and explore Rin-kun's forbidden regions for hours and HOURS…but…NOW it's not an innocent lust. NOW I just want to take what's mine, to force it out of your sexy crotch."

"I…I am yours, Sakura-chan."

"Please stop talking like that," she growled. "Unless you mean it, don't. I won't be able to stand you hurting me anymore."

I was quite inflated and throbbing by this point. I squinted and tried to get my thoughts together.

"Whether you want to believe it or not, Sakura-chan, I really meant all those things I said not thirty minutes ago. You remember? How I said you're the most precious person to me? I WASN'T lying. It's tough to believe that, I know, when everyone's constantly crowding me like crazy. Trust me, if I had it my way, I would prefer that you were the ONLY girl in my life…that way, everything could have developed naturally."

Sakura paused and began to just squeeze my dick. Her eyes turned back to their normal shape and she stared at me for a moment. "…I'm sorry, Rin-kun. All that stuff…was just, um…the drugs…"

"I know, Sakura-chan. But please just remember that you don't have a bigger fan than me."

"Haha…I…can tell, Rin-kun," she smiled, continuing to aggressively jack me off while she rubbed my asshole with her middle finger.

I gasped as I jizzed all up her arm.

"Oh, Sakura-chan…that…THAT…was…"

Like a blanket suddenly gripped my mind, I fell QUITE unconscious, very quickly. It felt soothing…caressing…

* * *

When I opened my eyes seconds later, I was very much NOT in Sakura's apartment anymore. I found myself on an idyllic hill adorned with an altar and a peach tree. Three figures stood in front of me, staring at me. The sight of them made my stomach leap up into my throat; each was an incredibly ugly anthropomorphic animal-ish-thing.

Far behind them lay a miniature mountain range, composed of what appeared to be torn human flesh. Long, spiral cuts were etched throughout the mountains, each oozing with blood. A huge, disembodied yellow head floated just past the mountains, staring at me with its eyes of solid black.

What, did I take shrooms or something? Or PCP? The hell was THIS?

"I see you've returned. A pity," the goat-dragon said. It looked utterly deranged, constantly twitched its head around, and had foam bubbling thickly from its toothless black gums.

"Welcome back, Rin-kun," the exceedingly obese female god in a mucus-covered bunny suit told me. Her mouth was gaping just enough to make her look excessively depraved and nasty to behold. Her voice was kind of sweet and nice to listen to, though, much unlike the goat-dragon's.

The goat-dragon glared her fiercely as he played with his bloody, skinless dick. The toucan man with a huge smile on his face still hadn't moved, just remained staring at me with vividly green eyes, never blinking.

"Do you remember anything about this place, or us?" the bunny girl asked calmly, prompting the goat-dragon to squeal really loudly, walk over to her, hold her face in one hand, and savagely start pummeling her face with the other.

"Shut the FUCK up, you carpet-munching, shitty-cunt, FAT ASS BITCH!" he screamed at her in a voice so loud that it made my ears ring. He whirled and looked at me with a savage grin. "Fudge packer!"

I briefly looked around to make sure he was addressing me. "Um…yes?" I asked in a small voice.

"Look at how fat this fucking WHORE is! What a piece of floppy-pussy SHIT, you motherfucking little SHIKKKTK!" Saliva and blood spewed all over the place from his mouth.

What. The. Fuck?

The bunny girl screamed out in horror and pain as he continued to beat through her skull with his massive fist. The toucan man just kept grinning.

I summoned up as much willpower as I could to talk to these hallucinations. "Umm…" And failed.

"Yes? YES? OUT with it, ya bleeding-ass FAGGOT!" the hideous goat-dragon screamed at me. My body shuddered as the force of his voice threatened to knock me over.

"Um…I don't remember ever being here before."

"Oh, well that's good then!" the goat dragon said with a sneer, dropping the bunny girl. Her face had been pummeled beyond recognition, now just a bleeding red mass. She continued to whimper as she fell forward on her knees.

"Alright, scrotum-face, I've got an offer for you, since you were a previous RESIDENT," the goat-dragon continued to me as he snuck another unnecessary glare at the bunny girl.

"Um, okay."

He gestured broadly at the altar before us. "If you walk your fucking nasty-shit, blood-spewing ASS over here, we'd be pleased to offer you an expedited healing service for your bluenette SLUT's fucking pathetic drug addiction! SHIT! FUCK! What do you say to that, ya little serial raping, toddler-fucking SLIME?"

I cleared my throat. "So…what you're saying is…that…no strings attached…you'll just lift Sakura's addiction? Just like that?"

"What are you, lobotomized? Just like I said, Numbnuts. So what the fuck you waiting for?"

This guy had a fucking LOVELY personality. Jeez. I think I'd rather talk to Daisy than him for another minute. I didn't trust him, of course, and I knew well enough that one shouldn't take shortcuts on things like this.

"I'm sorry, but I must politely decline," I said, bowing deeply.

"WHAT?" the hideous monster screamed at me.

"Let him do what he wants. If he wants to do it the natural way, then good by him," the now-faceless, overweight bunny girl said as she got up to her feet. Her dark abyss of a gaping mouth flopped around spastically.

"Don't…CONTRADICT MEEE!" the goat-dragon roared even louder. The sky turned a deep, bloody red. He stomped over to her, unzipped the front of her bunny costume, and ripped her left breast completely off, blood and fat dumping out of the resulting cavity in her chest. She howled in pain, doubling over and vomiting a small creek.

"PIECE of SHIT!" the foaming-mouthed goat dragon howled, pounding the top of her head with her fist, causing more blood to splash out of her soaked face with every impact. He lifted her severed breast to his disgusting gums and took a large bite of the fat inside.

I couldn't help it; I pissed my pants. My nausea was building up quite a bit, too.

The disembodied yellow head said, "Pineapples explode when you dip them in Kool-aid." A helpful tidbit, indeed, Mr. Head. Thanks for that.

Leaving the girl to hold herself in pain, the goat-dragon turned back to me like nothing had happened. "Alright, I realize you're a titty-fucking homosexual, but I have one thing of vital importance to tell you." He took another large bite out of her breast. "You will be visited very soon by "Her." You MUST not listen to what she says, alright, Dickhole?"

I nodded despite thinking that, whoever "Her" was, I'd likely be more inclined to listen to her than this to this psychopath.

"Don't take this lightly, Rin-kun," the bunny girl moaned out in pain. "It's IMPERATIVE to the fate of your reality that you don't let "Her" tell you what to do."

The goat-dragon laughed. "Every time you talk, it makes me just want to MURDER SOME CUNT-ASS BITCHYES!" He pulled a saber out of his ass and sliced the bunny girl in half at the stomach. She screamed in sheer terror and vomited a lot more. As the goat-dragon picked up her torso and stated fucking the inside of her stomach with his sickly crotch, the toucan man finally spoke up.

"You'll know her when you see her!"

"A-alright…"

"Thanks for listening, Rin-kun; I love you!" the bunny girl told me sincerely.

The goat-dragon screamed, "BOMBS AWAY," and ejaculated the upper half of the bunny girl's body off his dick like a bottle rocket, blasting her right towards me. She opened her HUGE jaws and swallowed me whole.

* * *

"Rin-kun! RIN-KUN!" I heard Sakura's muffled-sounding voice say.

"Mm, what..?" I said sleepily, opening my eyes. My vision slowly became less blurry until I found myself back in Sakura's apartment. She was still lying down in front of me, naked surrounded by Roth.

"Are you okay?" she said, looking at me with concern.

"Oh, shit! I fell asleep! I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan!" Ugh, no! Have I totally fucked up the ritual now? I looked at my watch. "AHG! It's been fifty-five minutes!"

"I tried to wake you! I've been talking to you this entire time," Sakura said, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. "You looked like you were having some kind of nightmare or something."

"Or something. I'd tell you about it, but…I think you probably have better things to think about it," I laughed nervously. Man, I felt utterly sickened. "So, um…I guess it goes without saying that you took some Roth while I was out?"

She shook her head vehemently. "I know you have NO reason to believe me, but…I really actually haven't."

"Well," I looked around. All the needles still SEEMED untouched, filled, and pointed away from her. Of course, I hadn't exactly taken a survey of each ones exact state before I blacked out, so I didn't really know. She did look very sweaty and distressed, however, so I figured it wouldn't be too costly to keep going. "Alright. I believe you."

She smiled.

"How are you feeling?"

"Shittier than shitty. I could vomit on command, actually. And I keep hearing this really loud SCREEECHING fucking noise in my head, like a saw grinding slowly on a slab of metal or something."

I lightly rubbed her head. "Sakura-chan, I'm here. It's going to be okay. We're almost done."

"Then can I inject some Roth into my clit?"

"N-no…"

Sakura bucked and heaved her wet body around. "I can't take it! There's nothing but PAIN! I just wanna stab it…just…stab a needle…in-in-in my crotch!"

I leaned in and lightly kissed her again on the lips. "There's not too much more. Only two more parts, and neither of them involve waiting."

She peered up at me, fluttering her eyelashes. "Rin-kun…if you really love me…you'll stick a needle in my crotch! Right? You will, won't you?"

"Okay, part four," I said. "I'm going to hold a needle to your vein, okay?"

"Damn straight. I have to pee."

"Well, just hold on to it for a little more, okay?" I picked up a Roth needle and held it delicately on the largest vein in her arm. I…REALLY hope I don't fall asleep again. "Now, Sakura-chan, I need you to describe to me your deepest fear."

Her breath hitched all of a sudden. "Why?"

"The hell do I know, why! It's part of the ritual; just do it, it'll be okay."

She shifted her head left and right. "I don't…know if I…I mean, I've never shared it with anyone."

"Sakura-chan…I promise I won't tell anyone else."

She laughed shortly. "I don't care about anyone ELSE knowing, just you."

"Well, like I've said a million times, NOTHING you could possibly do or say would make me love you any less."

"Awwww!"

" Just go for it."

"Alright." She closed her eyes and frowned. "About…five years ago, right before I started taking Roth, I went with my school on a field trip to some closed-down theater. There were…MANY legends about it being haunted, but of course I didn't care about any of that. So, me and some the other girls went ahead and slept down in the basement, a really, really warm room covered in red velvet."

"Uh-huh."

"When they shut the power off for the night, we all expected something creepy or something to happen, but, um…nothing did. So, disappointed, the five of us just fell asleep and enjoyed the weird warmth of the room. But, every Saturday night after that…I had this really, REALLY fucking bad nightmare."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah…I was the only one who experienced it, out of the girls who went. But, um…the visions got so bad that I would wake up with blood coming out of my facial orifices; my eyes, nose, and mouth. My parents got me checked out at the hospital, and my brain was actually being flayed every Saturday night, for no apparent natural cause. I knew the cause, though."

"What was the nightmare about?" I asked, still holding the needle to her arm.

"I don't want to…"

"It's okay…nothing will happen. You're safe now." I squeezed her hand with my empty one.

"Mmmm, ugh…alright…just cuz you're asking."

"Alright."

"Okay, so, every time, it's this same exact dream. There are other parts scattered around, little brief visions, but there are really just two main scenes. The first has a couple little girls in bonnets, sitting at a daycare, talking with their father. I can feel the grief and fear hanging in the room. They're talking about a "Her," and it's easy to see that she's the source of their troubles. I look to the right, and through the glass in the door is a large, dark silhouette; there's someone wicked watching the little kids."

Tears appeared in Sakura's eyes as she continued. "The next scene is the family playing croquet. But there's no fun being had. The father is desperately, very seriously helping his girls and coaching them at the game. There's a woman in a huge white hat, and her face is obscured. She's playing against the family. Whenever I see her, my blood runs cold. In fact, I feel nothing but dread this entire dream, because I know what's coming!"

"Um…I'm sorry."

"Okay, the elder sister of the girls mishits the ball with her mallet, and the father screams at her in fury. But she feels no malice from him, she understands. Her shoulders shake with sobs. His eyes are red-rimmed, too. They're suffering. The woman in the evil hat laughs callously at them. They can feel her disdain. The woman hits the ball perfectly, making it in one shot."

"The father, looking down, hands the mallet to his younger daughter. Her tears are already flooding her eyes. After, she messes up, too, the woman says even more cutting remarks, this time directly damning the little girl to hell. I look at the woman in the dream, then, feeling protective of this family. She looks up at me. AND THAT FACE! THAT FUCKING FACE!"

"Sakura-chan, it's alright…"

She was breathing very quickly now. "It's hard to describe that face, really. She was a little pretty, but her expression was just…obscene…a combination of omniscience, EVIL, and happiness of the darkest kind. Every time I see it, I wake up and am covered with blood."

"Um, that's…" I didn't really know what to say to that. It didn't really sound THAT scary…but the way Sakura was acting made it seem a lot more troubling. "I'm really sorry you had to see that, over and over again."

"I suffered for like three months, ALWAYS having this same dream. Her stare was, like, beating me up or something. So, I finally decided to beat myself up even more, if I could. Without you, there was no way I could bear that shit. So. I found out how I could get in contact with the Demons' hidden drug trade and got my hands on some Roth. That's how I started using it."

"…I see. Did it help the visions?"

"…No. Not really. But it was nice to know that I could fuck myself up just as much or worse than this stupid vision that was haunting me."

"Alright. So…is that vision your deepest fear? Or…a fear of dependence on dark forces outside of your control, perhaps?"

"Oh, that'd be it! Nicely put, Rin-kun!"

"I'm pretty sharp."

"Hah! That's what you think!" Smiling, she brushed her tears out of her eyes.

"Now that we've identified that," I said, "I need you to…um…piss yourself…"

"This ritual is so weird."

"…while concentrating on the fear, while I still hold the Roth to you like this."

"Well, that I can do," Sakura smiled. "I've been holding it in since before you traced the circle around me."

"Alright."

"So, is there a spell or something that you have to say?"

"Nope! Just piss away!"

"Roger that!" Sakura blushed despite her enthusiasm and urinated all over her table, for about thirty seconds.

"Wow…this is kind of hot," I couldn't help but say as I gripped her hand.

"Sh-shut up!" she commanded.

Once she had dribbled away the last of it, I laid the needle back down on the table next to her. She heaved a massive sigh of relief.

"So, one more part?" she asked.

"Yup!" I exclaimed, grabbing a vial of vanilla extract. "This is the sealing of your cured soul. What I'm supposed to do is drown out the tobacco on your breast with the vanilla."

"That's…going to take a lot of vanilla."

"Yes ma'am! So, if you could sit up now, that would be awesome!"

"Certainly, Master."

I hugged her close to me by her shoulders (she was really too petite and sexy to resist) and then tipped the bottle onto her tobacco-marked breast. The golden liquid first soaked directly into the tobacco, and in a few seconds it carried it away, down to her crotch.

"Sakura Yue, I now pronounce you "CURED!""

"Woohoo!" Sakura said, jumping off the needle-covered table and throwing her wet, naked body into my arms. "Rin-kun…thank you so much."

"N-n-n-n…" I exhaled. "No problem."

"Not just anyone would have done that for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I hugged her very tightly. Every single part of her was beautiful. She was truly an amazing being; it was almost hard to believe she existed, she was so ethereal.

"S-so…do you feel any different? About the Roth and stuff?"

"I think so. But first…" Sakura cupped my head in her hands and brought my mouth in to kiss her. We stood there kissing for a good fifteen minutes.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

After setting Primula to work cleaning the blood out of the bathroom, I drummed my fingers on my pelvis. That fucker Rin never came back, even though it was getting dark. It made me smile. He was just proving me right about him.

Ignoring the razor-sharp pain in my maimed breast, I closed the door to my pitch-black bedroom and set to work lighting the darkcandles around the makeshift altar that I'd prepared for Madam Moonbite the first day I met her.

Upon my lighting the last of the six darkcandles, the familiarly imposing shadow of Madam Moonbite appeared before me.

"I am deferent to your will, Madam Moonbite. Use me as you desire."

"I…THANK you for your loyalty,…MMmmmmmM, Kaede-chan, and as much as I would like to… rape you, there are more important things to discuss….here."

Well that's good, at least.

She continued, "I have heard tell of your…..hMMMmm…desire to return to your original mission. Was the Horse correct, or should I….PUNISH Him?"

"Well, He's correct…"

"But?"

"I, um…I have the desire to hurt Rin-kun again, but…I don't…last time, I had unexpected difficulty when I made to harm him."

"Yes, I knoOOw this already, you worthless piece of shit."

"Right, I was just reminding your worshipfulness. So, I am not certain that I will have the will to carry out my desire of torturing Rin-kun. What is your advice, most all-knowing one?"

"Well, since you are so loyal to me, and so vital to my plans, my…DeAR, I will send a care package in the mail for you with…HHMMMMMM….new…eQUIPment, yes. And, in my infinite, flawless knowledge, I have already bestowed you with a Demon subservient to your will, have I not?"

"Well, yes…but he's a little bit mad at me right now…but that only arose due to my foolish breaking away from the perfect and right course which you had already laid out for me to follow, Madam. It was my own pathetic inadequacy that…"

"Alright, shut up, you hideous COW. Only a worthless fuck-up like yourself could possibly dissuade Bark's idiotic loyalty, even for a moment. NOW; Bark-kun is a sex addict and…a…PERVERT, is he not?"

"It is as you say, Holy Mother."

"Well, there you have it; just offer him any sort of…HMMM, heeHEEhee…favors…and he'll be your loyal turd again. Just have him carry out your desire of destroying Rin-kun for now."

"You are as correct as you are beautiful, my Master."

"Of course I'm correct! It's impossible for me not to be! I will let you go…now…Rin-kun should be there shortly."

I looked up with surprise. "He will?" I figured he would plow Sakura's ass all night long. Maybe her large intestine started to come out or something, or there was getting to be too much blood. On second thought, Rin would probably like that and just keep fucking, like the retarded, evil dickbag he is.

"You are hereby dispatched to carry out your mission. Be sure to call Bark-kun before Rin-kun arrives, you worthless slut."

"I will strive to, Holy Mother." With that, Madam Moonbite's silhouette disappeared.

Getting up (and nearly falling over in the process), I took out my cell to call Bark, tapping my fingers on my elbow nervously.

"Hello?" his deep voice said.

"H-hi, Bark-kun, um…how are you?" I asked.

"…What do you want?" he responded with a noticeable lack of his usual enthusiasm.

I blinked and started spewing words at him. "Listen, I'm really sorry about how stuff went at the party last night, and, um, I actually have a favor I'd like to ask of you."

"…Sorry, Kaede-chan, I just need some time to, uhh…think to myself, or some shit."

"I'll do any sexual favor you could possibly want me to do," I promised, crossing my fingers.

"Whoa, WHOA! WHOA! SHIT! Now we're talking!" Bark revved right back up into full throttle. "So, uh, before we decide on the method by you will be extracting the semen from my testicles, hhhHHHAAAAAH!, um, what is the favor you be wanting me to do for you, Girlfriend?"

"I need you to murder Rin-kun."

"UM…what?" His voice grew dramatically softer and more serious. "You…you're not shitting me?'

"Yes," I said shortly. "You have some kind of offensive magic at your disposal, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but…I'm not really supposed to use it, except for against gods and shit…"

"Aww, is Barkie-kun afwaid of bweaking da wules?" I mocked him.

"Naw, I ain't afraid…I just…"

"Listen…I will do anything…ANYTHING…sexually to you, nothing holding back, for as long as you want. You have my word."

"Well, look, the other thing is…I know you hate Rin-kun a shit-ton and all, but, like…man, I don't think he's really too bad a guy. I mean, I respect him, and he seems like he's really nice to everyone, and, FUCK, we've had lots of fun talks about the pussy, know what I'm saying?"

"Bark-kun…I really, REALLY want you to do this for me. If you do it, I will be so horny, I'll even do your favorite."

"Oh no, OH NO! Oh my GOD, YES! Don't even say it, you sassy-cunt bitch, hhhhHAAAAH!"

"You can take a huge, greasy-ass shit ON my titties…."

"Ohhh, OHHH! HUHUH!"

"WHILE I'm sucking your sexy fucking cock!"

"OH MY GOD! SHIT! I think I just busted a nut in my hand!"

"And I'll suck it out, like a straw…I'll suck every last bit of your holy, tasty semen out of your AMAZING cock…"

"Fucking shit! You've got yourself a fucking dead Rin-kun, is what you've got, my woman!"

I giggled. "Thanks, Bark-kun. You're so cute!"

"So, when do you want me to nail his punk ass? hhHHHAAAAH!"

"I'm gonna call you when he steps out for the night, alright? I'll send him out on a date with Primu-chan. It should, hopefully, be sometime within the hour."

"Damn straight, WOMAN!"

"And, Bark-kun; Primu-chan can be VERY dangerous, from what I've heard and seen. I'm sure you're more powerful, but just…be careful."

"You don't even have to worry about NOTHING! I've GOT this bitch locked DOWN!"

I blew him a kiss over the phone. "I love you!"

"And I love your fucking tits, BITCH! hhhHHHAAAAH!" He hung up.

I looked down at my now-nippleless breast. What would he think when he saw it? He might kill me, too, saying I can't deliver on my promise of breast service to him.

I guess I'd better go sharpen my knives. It's the only way. Oh well. I've always kind of wanted to cut his dick off.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

After I talked with Sakura a while, I managed to dissuade her from forcing me to spend the night with her; I was really concerned about how Kaede was faring with me being gone for so long. She and I had been doing so well…I really didn't want to fuck that up. If she was still partially the demented Kaede I know and love, she probably wouldn't understand that I had something to do for Sakura, since doing nice things for other people is not something she exactly values, especially when the person at loss is her.

To that end, I went to a random flower boutique and bought some pretty cool-looking blue tulips in a fancy bouquet for my other childhood friend. It was 3000 yen, but, you know…if it would assist in maintaining friendly relations with Kaede, I would pay ANY price. There probably isn't anything I wouldn't sacrifice to help her sanity recover.

With some anxiety, and still without ANY sleep to speak of, I made it back to the house. Pushing open the door, I saw Kaede sitting on the counter, kicking her heels off the wall repeatedly.

"Hey, Kaede-chan, I've got something for you!" I said with what I hoped was a warm smile.

She swiveled her head to me quite slowly, with a large smile that was completely unsettling. Despite that, and her corneas being greatly dilated, she actually looked much healthier than she had the past week.

"And you were…WHERE?" she said in a decisively slicing voice, walking menacingly over to me. "How long does it take to walk from Sia's house to ours? Or did you get sidetracked along the way somewhere?"

I subconsciously took a step back. "I, um, was at Sakura-chan's apartment, helping her with, um…with, a project."

"Oh, I see, I see. Did that project involve your dick sticking in her ass?" she said in a sarcastically sweet voice.

"No, surprisingly," I said with a smile, hoping a joke may calm her down a little bit. I lifted the flowers up and held them out to her. "I, um…bought these for you. I thought they matched your eyes."

Kaede took them as she scoffed, "Hah! THAT'S nice." She then proceeded to CHUCK them, as hard as she could, out the open door into the street.

I turned and stared. Apparently flowers were a no-go.

"WELL? Go get them, goat-fucker!"

I turned back to her and bowed quickly. "Um, sorry, I just figured that, since you threw them, you didn't want them…"

"Well, maybe you should leave the figuring to someone who doesn't think with his vagina."

I went and quickly grabbed them off from the street. It appeared she had taken a larger offense than I had hoped she would, regarding my absence. I only hoped she was just taking me to task for my actions right now, and could move on, later…

History seemed to indicate otherwise, however.

I brought them back, handing it directly to her. "Here you-" I stopped when she took a lighter and burnt the flowers right in front of my face.

She stared at me, grinning through the flames. "Holy shit, you're ugly. Did someone shit in your face all day?"

Geez, ouch.

She frowned. "What makes you think you may LOOK at me?"

"I-I'm sorry," I said, looking away immediately.

"'Sorry' doesn't fix a lifetime of fuckups, Rin-kun. Now; I wanted to talk to you about something," she said, whirling around and carrying the flaming bouquet to the sink.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"I'M GETTING TO THAT! FUCK, you're annoying! I'm having Bark-kun over momentarily, and I'd like your tiny dick out of the house, if you'd be so kind, just so we can fuck anywhere and everywhere in the house.'' Man, she is PISSED. Or back to normal. I can't tell which. "Oh, and take Primu-chan with you, so she doesn't BOTHER us while we're fucking."

"Um…"

"You're dismissed! What the hell are you still here for? I know you have an IQ of about fucking TWO, but I'd think you could at least walk the fuck to the door!"

"I…have to go get Primu-chan, remember?"

"I have to go get Primu-chan, remember?" She mocked me in a high-pitched voice. "Yeah, try not to assrape her more than twice on your way out, zit-dick!"

* * *

And so it happened that Primula and I were ejected from the house and found ourselves walking aimlessly around the closing shops in the bazaar.

"Rin! Today, I peed for FIVE MINUTES STRAIGHT! Just pissing! It was the best thing that's ever happened to me…" Primula said dreamily. "It felt so gooood!"

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Yup!"

"Good girl!" I tousled her hair.

"So…is this like a date?"

I jerked back in surprise. "D-date?"

"It is, isn't it? We're finally on our first date together! I can't believe it!" Primula squealed, stamping in place. "This is the fucking shit!"

"Um…" I said.

She grabbed my arm tightly. "Come on, let's pop it like a thong!" And she whisked me off down the street, naming all the places she was going to take me. "We can go to the arcade! And the stuffed animals store! And Victoria's Secret! And Starbucks! And…"

"Breast Milk Bar?" we both read in unison at the last store on the street. Today was the grand opening, apparently. Not that I was even remotely interested.

I turned to go, but saw Primula squinting to read the sign. "Enough lactation to make all your wildest milk-squirting fantasies come true!" She spun to me and smiled in apparent euphoria. "Rin-kun! We HAVE to go!"

"I don't think so," I laughed. "I will take you…ANYwhere else, how's that?"

"But how can you turn down the prospect of fat women squirting milk out of their tits?" Primula all but shouted.

"How can I NOT turn that down?" I responded, frowning.

"Oh Rin-kun, don't be such a prude," Itsuki said, appearing at my side. "Lactation is the new necrophilia!" He took one arm in mine, while Primula took the other.

"No. NO! I don't want it! I don't want the milky titties!" I screamed, kicking and flailing to try and get away. They were both surprisingly strong though.

*BZZT!*

Itsuki screamed out and fell to the ground, holding his neck.

I shook my hand free of Primula's grip. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

A small, blonde girl ran up to us. "Itsuki-tan! What are you doing? You're not supposed to go to the titty-milk bar like that, you know?" She looked up to us and waved excitedly. "Hi! Aww, you guys are a cute adult-child couple just like us! That is just so precious!"

"Itsuki…" I said slowly.

"…-tan?" Primula finished.

"I'm Tsubomi! I'm Itsuki-tan's new wife! Isn't that, like, the best?" Tsubomi screamed, dancing in place.

Itsuki got up and smiled sheepily. I only noticed then that he was wearing a shock collar.

"Um…you're wearing a shock collar?" I asked him politely.

"Yeah, it's…" He sighed. "…something her father's making me wear until the actual marriage ceremony, just to make sure I don't try anything fishy."

Damn, he must have made a terrible impression on her father.

"I've got a BUTTON, and I can PRESS it! This is going to be the best marriage EVER!" Tsubomi beamed.

"How old are you, Tsubomi-chan?" Primula asked her.

"Thirteen!"

Primula broke down laughing. "Really, Itsuki? REALLY? That's so pathetic!"

Itsuki blushed and looked around nervously.

"Aww! My Itsuki-tan's SO cute! That's why I love him!" Tsubomi sang, running up and hugging him around the waist. He smiled nicely down at her and patted her on the head.

"Ah, HERE you are!" Mayumi said, trotting up. Itsuki squeaked in alarm. "I should have figured that you'd wind up at…" She squinted at the bar's banner. "…Breast…Milk…Bar…" She sneered at Itsuki. "Pervert."

"I don't think 'Pervert' even begins to cover it," I sighed.

"That's why I love him!" Tsubomi squealed, looking at Itsuki adoringly.

"N-no, I was just interested, it being a new shop and all," Itsuki stammered.

Tsubomi squeezed his hand encouragingly. "You're doing great, honey," she whispered. "Just keep on lying to them! They'll eventually believe it!"

Primula shook her head decisively, her bountiful pigtails swinging around. "Bullshit, Itsuki. You wanted to go in there A LOT."

"Oh, you're one to talk; you wanted to go in there more than ANYONE!" Itsuki exclaimed.

Primula gasped in mock distress and held a hand to her heart. "Oh my goodness, is Itsuki actually condemning me of something? Gods, I just; I just don't even know what to do!"

Mayumi cocked her head to the side. "Why DID you want to go in, Primu-chan?"

"…" Primula chose not to answer, instead just folding her hands on her crotch and cocking her head in a cute imitation of Mayumi.

"Anyway," I said. "How, exactly…did this whole thing start, Itsuki-kun? The marriage part, I mean."

"Well, I just ran in to them, and her dad offered her up to get married to me, just like that!" He put an arm around her and smiled. "And now I am eternally in his debt, for, marrying you, my love, will make me the happiest man alive."

"Oh, I am FAR more excited than you, Itsuki-tan," Tsubomi gasped, looking straight up at him. "I love you more than life itself, darling! I can't go a moment without wanting to touch you!"

"Ugh," I said.

"Barf," Mayumi said.

"That's nasty," Primula grinned.

"I thought it was sweet…" Tsubomi said, looking upset.

"Never fear, my love! They just don't understand the happiness that we have!" Itsuki proclaimed as Mayumi rolled her eyes.

"No one could POSSIBLY understand YOU," Matsuri said, coming up from behind us, carrying several shopping bags. "Oh, hi Rin-kun, Primu-chan. How are you guys?"

"Not too bad, how bout yourself?" I asked, my hands in my pockets.

"Just getting some stuff for our little get-together in my room. Um, would the two of you like to join us?"

"Would we?" Primula exclaimed. "That would be the most bumping shit ever!" She grabbed my hand in hers. "Rin and I are on a date!"

I slapped my face with the other hand. I was WAY too tired to deal with this kind of stuff right now.

"Look, I appreciate the invite," I said as Primula shot me a glare, "But I haven't slept since before the party yesterday, so…I am BEYOND blitzed right now."

"Hey, that's cool, no worries. I'd better let you get back to your child-molesting." My eyebrow twitched. "You guys ready to head back?" Matsuri asked the others.

"Of course!" Tsubomi cheered.

"I guess…why do "the Wonder Couple" here have to come, though?" Mayumi sighed.

"Hey, Matsuri-kun, did you get the, um, adult…magazines I asked for?" Itsuki asked desperately.

Matsuri rolled her eyes. "No, you can get those yourself."

"Okay, I'll meet you back at the ranch," he said with a smile.

"Hang on a second, Itsuki-tan. Primula, is it?" Tsubomi asked her, walking up and extending her hand. "Do you want to be friends?"

Primula looked up at me. "Is it okay, Rin?"

"Why the hell would it not be?"

"Okay, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Primula said, smiling and shaking Tsubomi's hand.

"Yay!" Tsubomi cried, pulling Primula into a tight hug. "New friends! BFF's for life!"

"Ahem, yes, well," Primula sputtered like an old man, gently pushing her away.

"Sorry, I'd love to stay and chat, butADULTMAGAZINES!" Itsuki screamed, grabbing Tsubomi, slapping her on his back, and speeding off down the street, Tsubomi giggling the entire way.

My head hurts.

"Well, see you later I guess, Rin-kun," Matsuri said with a smile.

"Yeah, and, um…I'm sorry about…um…the prickliness between us last night, Rin-kun," Mayumi told me. "Thanks for understanding."

"N-no problem," I said. What did we talk about again?

"Ooh, and me, too! I really appreciate your encouragement, Rin-kun," Matsuri told me.

"Well, you know, what are friends for, right?" I laughed, rubbing the back of my head.

The girls looked at each other and giggled.

"What?" I demanded.

"Oh, nothing," Mayumi waved me off.

"Take care of him for us, Primu-chan," Matsuri told my companion.

"Not even close to a problem, trannie."

Matsuri's smile froze.

I took Primula's hand in mine and started to pull her away. "We'll, uh, we'll see you guys later!"

"Bye!" Mayumi sang.

* * *

"Well that was fun," I said, taking Primula through the alley shortcut that me and Sakura had taken a couple times before.

"Really? As a date, I thought it could have gone better."

"Yeah, that's given, of course. But I'm just WAY too pooped to do any-"

Primula cut me off with a sharp tug of my arm.

"Hey, what's…"

"SHH! We're being watched," Primula whispered harshly.

"Huh, really?"

"Don't make a sound," Primula commanded. I shut up, looking around with her.

Her hand turning icy-cold, Primula slowly pulled me back out the way we came. She was right; I did feel some kind of presence here. Weird. The alley wasn't big, and there were a few windows…where were we being watched from? The skies were clear…

Everything suddenly turned bright orange.

I heard the woosh of flames igniting, and a scorching heat engulfed the exit. I jumped away instinctively.

"GAAAHH!" Primula roared in pain. She was stuck in the middle of the flames. They were HUGE flames, as high as buildings. The exit was totally blocked.

"Primula-chan!" I gasped, jumping back in the grueling fire and grabbing her by the elbow. I pulled her out as fast as I could; while I was pretty seared, she was COMPLETELY on fire!

"Holy SHIT!" I exclaimed. "Primula, roll around on the ground, right now!"

"ROOAAAARGH!" Primula slammed face-first into the filthy ground. "Save me, Rin, save me!"

I looked quickly around for a blanket or something to put out the flames with, but I heard a muffled male scream, followed by Bark's hulking form SMASHING through the brick wall, colliding with me, and knocking me through the wall on the other side of the alley.

"JESUSFUCK!" I spat. I could feel blood running down from the back of my skull.

I looked up and saw Bark floating in midair in front of me. He made a hand motion and an explosion erupted in the ground, sending me hurtling through another wall.

"Shit! Fuck!" I gasped, coughing an endless strain of blood from my mouth.

I was in a power plant of some kind, now, lying on a suspended walkway overlooking a huge, glowing power generator. Pylons were everywhere.

Bark came in, his body covered with crackling energy. "Hey Rin-kun! What's up, faggot-butt? hhhAAAAH!"

I was still a little too stunned from my multiple concussions to do much but stand and let blood drain out of my mouth.

"So, like, I'm supposed to kill you or some shit. Nothing personal, buddy! I always thought you were a pretty cool son of a bitch, am I right? hhhHHHAAAH! Not too shabby! You've been fucking all kinds of crazy titties since we first met!"

"Um, Bark-kun…" I said, but started chocking because of the blood filling my throat. Despite being dizzier than a spinning top, I thought I had a good enough hold on the pipe to maybe dodge his next attack. Wait; metal? Maybe I could somehow use the area to my advantage? He looked like he was about to use some kind of electric attack.

"So yeah, I like you. But, hey; shit happens! So, uh, I hate to be a pain in the ass, but I've gotta kill you now. Sorry bout that. Do you have any last words, man?"

I ignored him, trying to think of a way I could maybe touch a pipe to him or something.

"Oh wait, I know! Which girl's pussy was the funnest to pop? You know, I always thought that Asa whore would look pretty good with tons of blood just flowing out of her pussy, am I right? FUCK! hhHHHAAH! All trailin' down her legs and shit!"

In mid laugh, an icicle spear got impaled through his stomach. He screamed in agony and dropped to the floor, revealing a very crispy-looking (and very ANGRY) Primula standing behind him. The air was glowing blue around her.

"Primu-chan, are you okay?" I gulped.

"I'm gonna get you motherfuckers for this," Bark said, tears in his eyes as he crawled towards me.

"Move, Rin," Primula said, winding her arms back and thrusting them forward. A blizzard ripped into Bark's stationary body, whipping him towards the generator.

Unfortunately, he somehow grabbed me by the neck and pulled me along with him as the wind carried him through the air.

"RIN!" Primula screamed in horror.

I was choking even worse now, with his hand clenched around my neck. I formed a fist and punched him in the face, but he responded by beating me several times, QUITE painfully, in the chest, blood gushing from my mouth with each punch.

I growled, and used the inertia from my spin to smash Bark into the generator, just as we slammed into it.

Blue electricity streamed through him (and me, slightly). I waded back in the soggy acid that covered the floor, anxious to get out. I looked quickly around for a ladder…

…and then Bark somehow lit me on fire again.

"GAHH, URGH!" I tried to get away from the flames, but they seemed to follow me everywhere. I didn't really want to roll in the acid that had flooded the plant…

I saw through the crackling fire that Bark had somehow managed to escape the crater he made in the generator, and he was now walking towards me.

An incredible-feeling gust of frigid air suddenly swept by me, blowing the flames away. I looked up and saw Primula floating above us.

"Bastard…" she said, staring at Barkwith bubbling hatred.

He grunted and began charging up for another attack. I took a wrench from a nearby workbench and chucked it at him, hitting him square in the nuts.

"YOU SHITFUCKING COCKSUCKER!" he squealed like a girl.

"Now, Primu-chan!"

"BASTARD PIECE OF SHIT!" Primula screamed, foaming at the mouth.

An inverted, white-blue explosion consumed Bark with an EXTREMELY loud thunderclap that felt like it burst my eardrums. In time with Primula's arm movements, a gigantic spike of earthy ground ripped through the floor of the power plant, impaling Bark from his asshole up through the top of his skull.

"…FUCK!" I said, blood still streaming out of my mouth.

Primula started whipping her hands very violently in the air, and static electricity wiggled and sizzled around Bark's impaled corpse like a bright blue cocoon.

Well…no big loss, I suppose. That was CRAZY, though! I never thought that Bark was the type to just randomly attack me, or especially Primula.

Wait, I know; Kaede. She must have sent him to kill us.

Primula then turned to me and, despite still drooling out of her mouth, she very gently levitated me up to the walkway, soon hovering over herself.

As soon as she landed, she said, "Whoa," and fell to the ground, apparently having completely lost her balance.

I grunted and picked her light, burnt body up, taking one last look at Bark's body; it was gone! What the hell? I looked around a bit, but didn't see him anywhere.

I shrugged, supposed the electricity ate him up, and carried Primula out with the intention of getting her to Sia's.

* * *

"Well, it was my pleasure to heal you, as always," Sia told Primula and I as she saw us to the door. "And you as well, Primu-chan."

"Thanks, Sia," Primula said very softly. She had insisted on being in my arms still. I didn't mind, really, although the fact that her and I were now dressed ONLY in a robe was not lost on me; I was very conscious of how easy it currently was to look at Primula's private areas in the loose-fitting garment, so I made it a point to ONLY look at Sia.

"Yes, you are the definition of 'lifesaver,'" I said.

"Try to be careful from now on, though, okay?" She had a thought. "Oh, ESPECIALLY right now; Daddy and I are going out of town to visit my mothers tonight."

"Oh, really? I guess it's lucky that we caught you before you left, then," I said.

"I know, you're never less than awesome in any category," Sia laughed.

"Except the whole 'keeping his blood contained within his body' thing," Primula said. I could sense her smiling at me, but I still refused to look at her.

"Oh, how true!" Sia pointed at me, Phoenix Wright-style. "You, sir, fail at blood retention!"

"You don't have to tell me," I laughed. "But, um…I'm like practically sleeping standing up, here, so I'd better get back to bed before I die from exhaustion or something."

"Yes, you better! Just; be very, VERY careful, okay?" Sia said, her eyes glittering.

"W-we will."

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"Alright, then. Hopefully I'll see you in just a couple days!" Sia said.

"Bye!" Primula and I called as we walked down the steps.

After a moment of walking in sleepy silence, I said, "So…you just killed somebody."

"Mm-hm!" Primula affirmed, snuggling up against my chest.

"Well…first, thanks! And second…are you doing alright? I mean, typically when someone kills someone for the first time, or so I hear, at least, they're usually pretty traumatized…or at least impacted heavily…"

I risked a look down at her, careful to keep my eyes only on her face. She smiled sleepily up at me.

"I'll be alright, Rin. As long as you care about me, nothing else matters."

I smiled back and kissed her on her forehead. "That shouldn't be too difficult. But still; killing Bark-kun is something that will stay with you for the rest of your life, no matter what."

Primula shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I am me…Bark is Bark. Bark tried to kill you, so I destroyed his fucking ass. It doesn't bother me or anything; it was what had to happen."

"Wow…alright then." It was strange that Primula could be so lovey-dovey one moment and so calculating and emotionally distant the next. I hoped she really was alright. Ever since my death, she's seemed greatly altered. So far, she seemed to be coping with stuff fairly well, so I tried not to worry about her too much.

I was, however, worried about going back into Kaede's house now that Sia was on her way out of town. If she decided to, um…yeah…then I could be in a tight spot.

I set Primula down once we reached the front door, thereafter looking for something to defend myself with. Nothing was forthcoming.

"So, like, are we going to go inside sometime soon?" Primula asked.

"Y…yeah, let's go on in," I said swallowing. With any luck, Primula would have similarly few qualms attacking Kaede as she had with Bark, should a confrontation arise. Of course, I would be pretty upset if something lethal DID happen to Kaede, so I hoped she could just relax and that everything would work out.

Kaede shot straight up from the couch as we walked in. "HI!" she shouted. "Uh…um…"

I suppose she was expecting Bark. I would have taunted her, but I was concerned that the eventual repercussions wouldn't be worth it.

"It's…good to see you!" she said, grinning with obvious insincerity. "H-how was your time out tonight?"

"Not too bad, really," I said, folding my arms and slightly smiling. "It would have been better if you'd've come, though, it was a little boring."

"Oh, uh, um, uh-huh!" she said, her smile faltering and briefly displaying her dismay. At what, though, I wasn't exactly sure.

"Nice knife," Primula commented. I hadn't noticed, but it seemed that Kaede had been holding a long knife behind her back; an eel-slicer, by the look of it.

Kaede looked up with slight fear in her eyes and chucked the knife into the fireplace. "I was just…um…it actually wasn't intended for you, believe it or not."

"…REALLY," I said without thinking.

"I, uh, ran a bath a little while ago; if one of you is interested in taking one to relax, feel free to go take one!"

THAT was an obvious trap, if there ever was one. Maybe there was AIDS in the water or something.

"Oh, awesome! Rin needs one!" Primula said, fluttering her eyelashes at me.

I looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. "Well…fine. I'll go take one." A shower, that is. After draining the water.

So, after bidding them goodnight, I slid my sore self upstairs and closed the bathroom door before undressing. I looked at the water; it looked pretty innocuous to me.

However, being that I'm smart, I knew better than to trust appearances when dealing with Kaede's handiwork. I took up the plunger and dunked it in the full bathtub.

It was immediately much heavier. I pulled it out and found that the entire section that had been submerged was now covered with transparent, frigid crystals, each of which emanating visible gas from frigidity.

Huh. Weird.

The door swung open behind me.

I instinctively spun and brought my arms up around my head; just in time, too, because Kaede swung a shovel directly on my elbows, knocking me backwards.

"Hurr…heh! You're so idiotic," Kaede laughed in her alternate, deep, basso voice. "There's nowhere for you to go!" She swung again, at my balls this time, and I somehow blocked it with the plunger moments before impact. "RRRHAAA!" she roared (hopefully Primula would hear), and swept her shovel straight up, bashing into my chin.

"Aughhh!" I bellowed as the pain of fractured bone rushed to my chin.

While I was stunned, she jerked it into my crotch, sending me splattering back into the incredibly arctic water. I propped myself up with my bruised elbows just enough to keep my head out…everything else but my toes were submerged, though.

"Ah, Rin-kun…it's been far too long. I hope you enjoy this special session!" Kaede chuckled, setting her toolbox down on the toilet as she squatted next to the bathtub.

"What the…what IS this stuff?" I breathed, rapidly losing all feeling in every part of my body.

"Liquid nitrogen," Kaede said as if it was common knowledge. "I got it today just for you! Don't you just feel appreciated?" She thought a moment. "Oh wait! If your internal organs shut down, you won't be conscious! Hang on a second!"

Acting almost giddy, Kaede took an ice pick and broke away a lot of the ice forming around my chest.

"PRIMULA! HELP! HELP, PRIMU-CHAN!" I screamed.

"SHUT UP, you UNGRATEFUL FUCK!" Kaede roared, grabbing her yanagiba and swiftly cutting my nose completely off.

"FFUUUUU…" I screamed, unable to even get my head around such a thing even happening. The pain swiftly spiderwebbed away from the wound and threatened to drown everything else out. Blood EXPLODED out of my nose cavity, staining the liquid nitrogen red.

"Things will be MUCH, MUCH more painful if you don't cooperate, you hideous little pervert," Kaede growled warningly. "And it's pointless to bother, anyway; I stabbed Primu-chan with a tranquilizer before I came up…she'll be out for a day with that dosage.

"At this rate, I'll be dead by then," I spat through the blood flooding my mouth.

"Oh, don't say that, we have to have lots more fun first!" Kaede beamed. "Now, you realize, of course, that this process is all your fault?"

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry, Kaede-chan."

"I didn't tell you to speak, shrivel-dick!" Kaede gasped, wielding her yanagiba and slicing off the left two toes on my right foot.

"CAH! AUUUUGHGHH!" I spasmed in pain from the bones breaking in half. Drool streamed out of my mouth, mixing with the blood dumping out of my nose.

"There is no hope for you; you are EVIL, and your soul is unsalvageable!" Kaede laughed, cutting off my other big toe. Vomit burst unwilling from my throat. "You're such a fucking pussy! No friend could be more disloyal than you, no man more self-centered and unlikeable. You are the nadir of my existence." She procured a black, plastic sack from the toilet and set it down on the bathroom floor.

"You…you said that you wanted to be friends…" I said, tears in my eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Kaede laughed. "I would rather stab myself fifty times in the stomach than be friends with a sorry, pathetic, two-faced FUCK like you. I hate you, and ALWAYS have. I was only acting nice yesterday to lead you on, so I could hurt you all the more, later!"

I felt a deep sense of sadness and despair that clawed at my throats with needles and pins. "You said…you missed me when I was gone…"

"Who could miss YOU? You're ugly, unlikeable, evil, act like a FAGGOT, and will rot in hell for all eternity for your sheer inadequacy as a human being!" Kaede reminded me. "I was LYING! My entire purpose in life is to cause you pain, you inbred retard! I'm happy your parents died; they deserved no less for their unforgiveable mistake of bringing YOU into the world."

I was getting lightheaded from blood loss now. Kaede reached into the bag with a spoon and filled it with live maggots. At least thirty were swarming on the surface of the spoon as she held it in front of my face.

"Let's start small, okay? Enjoy your meal, cockhound!"

Kaede pried my bloody jaws open with one hand while inserting the swarming insect larvae down my throat with her spoon, giggling the entire time.

I tried my best to swallow, but there were a LOT! And they were wiggling all in my mouth now, burrowing into my tongue, gums, cheeks, and throat. No matter how much I swallowed, more just seemed to wiggle around.

"And some more!" Kaede said cheerily, dumping another spoonful in my mouth.

Everything felt fuzzy now. I spat some out, but it did little good; the maggots seemed to be digging into my tongue and cheeks quite readily. I vomited again.

"How about some more, you fucking little bitch?" Kaede snickered, rubbing some in the raw, bloody place where my nose used to be before dumping the rest of the slimy bugs in my mouth.

"P…please stop," I whimpered muffledly, my tongue now completely covered with burrowing maggots.

"Shh, shh, shh…please just don't talk ever again," Kaede said. "One last one…yep…there you go!" I moaned with horror this time. Nasty pus was beginning to accumulate in my infected mouth.

"Alright! Now, let's move on to something less boring, you worthless, so-called friend!" Kaede said in her deep voice. Humming, she fiddled around in her sack and produced, with some chopsticks, an entire, live slug. Spotted, I might add.

I widened my eyes and shook my head in protest; despite everything that had happened, I really, REALLY did NOT want to eat a fucking slug.

"Let's pay a visit to your new home," Kaede cooed to the slug while dangling it slowly towards my maggot-infested mouth.

"No…noo…" I said in a muffled voice. The things were fucking crawling up my nasal cavities! I want to die. RIGHT. NOW.

"Oh, I think so. This is what you deserve," Kaede said coldly, prying my mouth open again and thrusting the slug's head down my throat.

"NNNNGNG! UUUNNNNGNG! UUUUGRRRR!" I cried. I could feel every inch of its slimy, squiggling sticky body hugging my raw tissue as it began slithering down my throat.

"Go ahead…get…just get the FUCK down there, you stupid little cunt," Kaede growled, pushing at the slug's ass with her chopsticks.

So much slime…UGH! I can feel its antennae rubbing against me…

"Oh, fuck! Look at that! It just took a shit on your tongue! You're such a fucking loser, Rin-kun." She went back to her bag. "Let's see, I guess leeches are next! This should be fun…"

Kaede paused as we both heard Primula's voice from downstairs.

"Rin…Rin? Where are you?" she called.

"Holy…FUCK!" Kaede spat, getting up and running swiftly out of the bathroom.

I decided to take the chance to bite the hot water faucet with my maggot-covered teeth and turn it counter-clockwise to turn it on.

The water beat down on the nitrogen. I wasn't even sure it would work, but, after a moment, feeling began returning to the majority of my body. Very PAINFUL feeling, but feeling, nonetheless.

"Rin!" Primula said, sliding to a stop in front of the bathroom door (her bathrobe was hanging wide open, but I was feeling WAY too damaged to care), "What the fuck happened to you?"

"I'm getting out of here," I said through my fuzzy-feeling mouth as I propped myself shakily up from the tub. "Did you see Kaede-chan on your way?"

"N-no…" Primula said, staring at me. Tears were in her eyes. "Y...your nose..."

"I'll go that way, then!" I took off running, but fell down the stairs, maggots, blood, and vomit splattering out of my face with every step.

I had to get help…had to get away…before Kaede came back! I grabbed an overcoat and fell through the front door.

…FUCK! WHY did she do it? I just want to be friends with her! I care about her more than anyone! What the HELL can I POSSIBLY do to get her to see that?

* * *

**A/N:** Alright, that's a wrap. The next two will be a bit shorter, but also quite potent story-wise. Stay tuned for more exciting insanity!

Read and review like Kaede was telling you to while in your bed!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Once again, I have come up with a chapter that I very much enjoy! As promised, it is much more story-focused than any other chapter so far. Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I used to own Shuffle!, but then I got jealous.

* * *

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 11**

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

I traced my boxcutter along my middle finger, pretending it was the underside of Rin's dick.

I was chilling at my favorite "base;" the bridge about a half-mile east of the marketplace. My vision was fluctuating in and out of focus from my anger. I wanted to kill Primula so bad I could barely breathe!

How DARE she interrupt what was supposed to be a happy revisiting of me and Rin's torture sessions? It is paramount to the laws of morality that every last drop of pain possible needed to be squeezed out of that shitty failure of a boy's body. Primula, goddammit, is dealing with a lower level of the arcane than she could possibly understand.

I must continue to harm Rin. And I will do whatever's necessary to make sure that I can keep carving the life forcibly out of his hideous body.

A vision came to me of my little…fucking…knife…plunging into Primula's left eye like it was jelly! I leaned over the edge of the bridge and gaped my mouth open, kicking my heels back and forth in celebration. I could picture, like it was happening right this very moment, her eyeball bursting, the runny, bloody goop sliding down the blade of my boxcutter, back to its master.

That's it! I'll show her…I'll make her pay for SHITTING on my torture session, and PISSING on my gracious offer to let her stay with me! This entire time, she's been giving Rin a completely uncalled-for element of support in this house, when he should be suffering nonstop at MY HANDS!

FUCK that bitch! I will destroy her and mutilate her!

Best of all…I'll make sure that Rin's aware…yes…that he sees my glorious work on her beautiful body…because I know his type; the kind of faggot who goes around, happy to be raped and nut-slashed as long as no one he cares about gets hurt. Fuck that. Because of his so-called "selflessness," I'll cause him even more pain by defiling one that he holds perversely dear.

Yes. It's perfect. I'll punish them both with one swift, beautiful stroke of my bladed paintbrush.

Run in fear, Primula, darling. I'm coming to bring you home a surprise!

I giggled and began walking back home, my right hand stroking my crotch. My precious darkness was suddenly replaced by a brief burst of golden light raining down on the bridge. I stared up and couldn't believe my fucking eyes; it was Sia's flying chariot! She was BACK? I thought she just fucking left to go visit her mother, who's probably an even bigger slut than she is! What happened?

Oh, shit…the first thing she'll do is go see Rin. And he either won't be there, or…

My cover's at risk of being blown!

I growled and dashed into the darkness of the city. I had to beat that slutty Princess bitch back to my home, somehow!

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

I…CAN'T…BREATH!

The maggots are spreading, clogging up my throat. I feel like my entire body is filthy; I can feel bugs COVERING my back, swarming in my hair. No matter how much I spit, maggots cling to my tongue and lips. My face is corrupted now, too.

I ran out to go somewhere for help, but…well, I can't think, first of all…but, I neither had any idea where to go nor any way to drag my thoroughly-desecrated body anywhere. My energy was depleted…everything was falling apart. I felt like I was plummeting, arms wide, towards insanity.

I, thus, just limped and writhed around in the middle of the street, blood and bugs running out of my nasal cavity.

"Rin…kun?" I heard someone say. I couldn't quite place their voice, but it was certainly familiar.

Shit! I don't want someone I know to see me like this!

I gagged, larvae dropping on the street.

I just felt like resigning myself to sucking death's dick for the rest of my miserable existence.

"Rin-kun, what are you…*gasp!*" whoever it was continued.

I looked unsteadily up into the shocked face of Mayumi. I felt oddly relieved that she was here. "Mayumi-chan!" I said with pathetic-sounding happiness with my broken, maggot-filled mouth.

"Waaah! Um…what? Ah…wh-wh-wh…"

"That's right, take a good look, Mayumi-chan. THIS is the fear I've always been living with," I said numbly, gesturing towards my infected face. "Can you help me…kill myself? I've eaten lots of stuff that…I'm not supposed to eat…" I ended with a slimy, maggot-spewing cough that I tried to avert from her.

"Um…well…maybe you could try drinking it out with hard liquor?" Mayumi said with a shudder. "Let's try something before you resign yourself to death, okay?"

"ALRIGHT!" I coughed, losing my balance.

"Here, I've got you!" she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me to hold me up.

I immediately felt guilty for diluting her cleanliness and beauty. "D-don't…I'm…filthy…"

She kissed me on the cheek, despite the feeling of bugs crawling there. "Shut up. I'm not the one suffering right now." Mayumi whipped out a cell phone, still keeping one arm around my weak body. "I'll have Sakura-chan come pick us up. I think she has a whole bunch of booze or something."

"…Sakura-chan has a CAR?" I choked.

"Shhh…" Mayumi combed her fingers through my insect-ridden hair. "Just relax. Everything will work out."

"Th-thank you, Mayumi-chan," I said, starting to feel dizzy and low on blood.

"I'm only sorry that I haven't been here to share in your pain longer."

A flood of warmth hit my heart at her words, as well as that familiar feeling of complete unworthiness. I wrapped my arms around her for stability, and soon completely blacked out.

* * *

I burst awake to an onslaught of incredible nausea. After taking a moment to get my bearings, I realized I was now in Sakura's dimly-lit apartment, being looked at with grave concern by Mayumi and Sakura. I was also, apparently, lying on Sakura's bed, despite the fact that I was still covered in blood, maggots, and who knows what else.

Larva and saliva dripping from my mouth, I shot straight up (an unwise move, since I immediately felt like someone had smacked me in the stomach with an anchor) and exclaimed to Sakura, "Oh my gods, I am SO sorry…now all your sheets are filthy…"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Sakura said, coming over to me and putting her hands on my shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel…AWF, um, HORR, um, TERR, um…abysmal."

"Abysmal enough to vomit uncontrollably?" Mayumi asked.

"YES."

Sakura looked quickly at Mayumi and then back to me. "Mayumi-chan seems to think that forcing you to vomit up everything in your system is the best option. I don't really have any other ideas myself; what do you think?"

"I am SO…down with that, it's not even *COUGH, COUGH* funny…"

"Alright," Sakura said, kicking open her fridge and grabbing a couple bottles of liquor. "Come on, let's go to my bathroom, Rin-kun."

"Okay," I whispered, and made to move, but I suddenly had a massive lurch of the stomach. NGG! The vomit's coming! I must hold it in…must hold it…must…

I pissed myself.

Damn it.

"Are you gonna be able to make it?" Sakura asked me worriedly.

"C'mon, let's help him get there."

"Mayumi-chan, thank you…for all your…RRROOOA…" I lurched again…vomit seemed poised at the very top of my esophagus.

"You're welcome," she said as she and Sakura dragged my filthy body across the carpet into the bathroom, where they helped me get up on my knees and embrace Sakura's toilet.

Heehee…Sakura's naked ass sits here, often! Maybe she hasn't even washed the seat before now!

Gods, SHUT UP, Itsuki-kun!

Sakura straddled my left leg and lightly massaged my back as she popped open a bottle of Russian vodka. "Here, Rin-kun, this should do the trick. And don't worry, I just cleaned the toilet, so you can rest all your weight on it if you want!"

…damn it.

Before I could even take a swig of the stuff, I leaned forward and violently upchucked hundreds of maggots into the toilet. Mayumi kept massaging my arm and chest and whispering comfortingly in my ear, but I really wished she wasn't…I wouldn't want ANYONE to see my like this, really, let alone have their entire feminine body pressed up against me while I was like this. Especially since my legs were dripping with my own urine.

The girls didn't seem to care, though, as both seemed very preoccupied with my well-being and comfort, two things I cared extremely little about at the moment.

"Thanks," I whispered to Sakura as she tipped the strong liquor into my maggot-filled mouth. Wow; THAT hit the spot! That burns, in a really awesome way!

I took the bottle out of her hands and took a few large gulps, prompting me to vomit again. Blood exploded out of my nasal cavity from the force.

"I think it's working, Sakura-chan," Mayumi observed.

"That's right; you're going to get better, Rin-kun!"

I was…unconvinced, but I certainly was going to try my best not to disappoint them.

Very soon, however, I would have to come clean about how I got into a predicament like this…these torture sessions might very well come to an abrupt end, depending on what happens as a result of my explanation. I couldn't pretend to guess what the girls' reactions would be, but I felt certain that, for better or for worse, my time with Kaede as it had been up till now would soon be cut short.

Oddly, the idea of being away from her for the rest of my life left a really bitter taste in my mouth…

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

I came running up to the Fuyou house just as sluts numbers 1 and 2 were about to put their filthy hands on the gate handle.

"H-hey Nerine-chan and Sia-chan," I panted, sliding to a stop right in front of them. I gave myself a once-over to make sure no blood was visible on my adorable outfit.

"Kaede-chan!" they both exclaimed, with the dim-witted Sia continuing, "Why are you running?"

Um…

Oh, I know!

"R-Rin-kun's missing! I don't know where he is!" I said, injecting very convincing-sounding worry into my voice.

"Ohhh, I was worried something bad happened to him!" Sia wailed, holding a clenched fist to her unimpressive chest.

"What, um…drove him to leave?" Nerine asked me.

"We…had a fight," I said, doing a fantastic impression of someone revealing something they were ashamed of.

"Well, where did he go?" Sia said, obviously fretting with worry.

"…He's lost. I don't know," I said curtly to the dumb bitch.

"Don't worry, Sia-chan, we'll find him," Nerine said, patting Sia on the shoulder. She looked up at me. "We'll let you know once we find him, okay, Kaede-chan?"

"Oh, could you? That would be so helpful!" I said with false appreciativeness. "You see, I'm going to go comfort Primu-chan for the moment, since she's feeling quite, um, torn up about Rin-kun's disappearance."

"Alright, bye!" Sia squeaked, bolting off down the street.

Nerine turned back to me. "Well, where have you looked already?"

"What?"

"Um…where have you looked…?"

That fucking slut! I don't care if she's a princess, she shouldn't talk to me like that! Besides, the fact that she's always stuffing herself with Rin's ugly dick kind of discredits her from the princess thing, in my opinion.

"Well, I've just searched the whole loop past the marketplace to the East…and the places along the way there."

"Okay, got it, we'll search elsewhere," Nerine said, bowing to me. "Thanks, Kaede-chan." She also took off running, although much more elegantly than Sia had.

"Whew, close call, there," I breathed, relaxing my shoulders for a moment. I then realized that I still had the Primula situation to deal with. There was a good chance that she had caught onto the fact that Rin and I had had a "special time," and if she was capable of killing Bark, then she could be a very dangerous person, indeed, to have mad at me.

I was going to have to come up with something to knock her out long enough for me to set up a "special time" for her, too.

My elephant tranquilizers hadn't worked, though! My options seemed to be rather slim at the moment. I COULD try physically assaulting her head with a weapon of some kind, but who knows if I'd even have a chance to land a hit?

Hmm…trouble, trouble. I'm only trying to do the right thing! Why do all these horrible, terrible things have to keep happening to me?

The air around me seemed to blacken a bit, and I suddenly knew that I wasn't alone. I looked to my left, heart pounding, and saw that Madam Moonbite had appeared in person, and was currently anally raping the Horse of Solid Black (who appeared to be both freaked out and appalled by the feeling of her penis inside Him).

"Kaede…URrrrmmmm…chan; how are you doing?" Moonbite queried as her testicles continued bouncing off the Horse's hindquarters.

I swallowed and tried to look away…but couldn't. "Um…j-just fine."

The Horse gasped when Madam Moonbite reached down and started feeling his genitals. "I…*GASP!*…sensed that you were having a problem…*GASP, GASP!*…related to the carrying out of your…OHH!"

"OhYES, ohYES," Moonbite gasped as she kept on pounding the Horse.

"…because…NNG, NNG, *GASP!*…because of the artificial girl living in your…OHHHH…house…" the Horse finished. In two ways at the same time.

I had to cover my mouth to keep from gagging, but I nodded my head in affirmation.

"I think you'll find what you need, HMMMMM! YES! YES!...in Rin-kun's room, as it happens."

"What should I be looking for?"

Moonbite sneered with her mold-covered teeth and began working the Horse's shaft again with her ancient hands. "You're such an imbecile. But since you have a great asshole for fucking, I will clue you in; since Primula is, in fact, an artificially…HMMMMMMMM…grown person, her chemical makeup is largely different than that of yours, or, or, MINE, even. To put it in terms that someone even as dim-witted as you could understand, Primula's body is largely unaffected by most tranquilizers, yet is not susceptible to everything."

"Oh, well it's good to know that she does have SOME weakness," I removed my hand just long enough to say.

"That should be enough to get you started," the Horse gasped as his ass rape and hand job continued.

"Indeed," Moonbite said. "Is there anything else, pathetic little bitch?"

"Well…" I said, closing my eyes. "I was wondering if either of you had any opinions on what I should do about Primula. I mean, I'm not opposed to anything, but I didn't know if you had something in mind…"

"Yes we do, in fact!" Moonbite inexplicably burst out laughing. She smacked the back of the Horse's head. "Show her!"

The Horse of Solid Black looked up to me and flashed his sickly pink eyes, summoning a towering swarm of ticks to flood from his body and into my face. I accepted them into my mind.

For about a second, a vivid image of Primula in a unique set-up entered my mind's eye.

"Yes…yes, I see!" I said.

"Good. We are done here, then." Moonbite slapped the Horse's large buttcheeks. "We're done here, sexy!"

"Understood."

A spiraling surge of ticks obscured the two figures from view, and I sensed their departure from my presence.

I looked up at Rin's window; he still hadn't gotten the damned thing fixed, the fucking little whining slacker! This worked out well for me, however, as it gave me an extremely handy alternate route inside, from which I could easily ambush Primula unawares.

Using my ceaseless inner drive, I catapulted myself onto the wood panels of our house and began ascending to his window. I swiveled my rather breathtaking hips around and landed my legs on the small outcropping in front of the door. From there, it was only a matter of sheer willpower combined with the sticky sweat on my body for me to scale the rest of the way up to Rin's bedroom.

I crept into his ass-smelling room, careful to make no sound at all, and looked around intensely at Rin's belongings. What could a goody-two-shoes limp-dick fucker like Rin possibly have that could knock Primula out?

I crept over to his bed and realized, with a start, that Primula was actually in the room with me, asleep on his pillow. I must be really amazing at this spy stuff if I was able to get this far without waking her!

I turned my discriminating gaze to every corner of Rin's room, before finding a rather conspicuous black bag on his desk. I walked up and VERY SLOWLY reached in and fetched its contents; needles?

Unable to believe what I was feeling, I retrieved two objects from the bag. I couldn't believe it! They WERE needles, packed full to the brim with some sort of yellow liquid. This was the ONLY thing that Moonbite could possibly have meant.

I had no idea why Rin would have an entire lawn bag full of drugs on his desk…but I wasn't complaining, nor was it especially surprising, given Rin's despicable nature.

Time to test this.

I brought the needles over to Primu-chan and stabbed them both into her veins, depressing the triggers.

She awoke with a start, gasping, "Rin?" When she realized it was me, and not her crush, I saw her eyes begin to burn blood-red in the darkness of the room. She started shaking with rage. "YOU!…I won't let you get away with…" Primula started, but her eyes soon rolled to the back of her head. She was again unconscious.

"So far, so good," I said, going to fetch more needles, just to make sure she stayed out. I needed all the time I could get to pull this off to the glory of Madam Moonbite.

Rin is going to be disturbed out of his fucking MIND when he sees what I'm going to do to Primula! I can't wait to see the look on his face!

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Mayumi stepped back in the bathroom after getting off the phone with Sia.

"Guess what? They're coming!" she said with relief.

"Really?" I said between swigs of tequila. "I thought Sia-chan was gone!"

"She was…for like an hour," Mayumi said, "but she returned home because she said she was starting to get a really bad feeling about something happening to you."

Sakura patted my thigh and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay," as I vomited yet more maggots into the toilet.

Mayumi walked back to my other side and gave me a tight hug. "Sia-chan will heal you, right?"

"Yeah," I said with relief. I guess everything really is going to work out after all.

"Hmm…" Sakura said as she rested her head on my shoulder. "You should probably take a shower before the Princesses come."

Why am I getting a bad feeling from her saying something that makes sense like that?

"Yeah!" Mayumi agreed wholeheartedly. "Both for your health, and for decency."

"Okay…that IS a really good idea," I said, holding the lid of the toilet as a means to raise myself from the ground. "But I'm taking it ALONE."

"Psssh, you can barely walk!" Mayumi said waving me off. "You at least need someone hold you upright while you shower."

"Oh my gods, this is going to be fun!" Sakura got up, closed the door and reached down and began lifting the loose top of her pajamas.

"HOLD ON!" I said, arms wrapped around Mayumi to stand up straight. "This is not a good time for this, girls! First of all, if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in a position to fool around at the moment. My libido is completely nonexistent! I've been tortured, my nose has been cut off, and I'm totally wasted! Not to mention, if Sia and Nerine are on their way over, I doubt they'd want to walk in on the two of you bathing with me."

Sakura stuck out her tongue and jiggled her hips around a little bit, and I found it just as irresistible-looking on her as I had last night. Damn it.

"It's not going to be sexual, Rin-kun," Mayumi said in my ear.

"Yeah, don't think we ALWAYS just want sex, my love," Sakura said, poking my nipple.

"Besides, they ARE coming over, and they really want to see you, so I give them about, oh, two minutes…" Mayumi started.

"…and it'll go a lot faster if we help you!" Sakura said. "Sound good?"

"Um…"

"It's okay, we'll only do it if it's okay with you, Rin-kun," Mayumi said.

"Pssh, don't lie, Mayumi-chan!" Sakura scolded her.

"I'm not lying!"

"UM! You're taking your shorts off right now!" Sakura said, pointing at her incriminatingly.

"Really?" I said, stupidly turning around and looking down…sure enough she was stooped over, her shorts at her knees.

She blushed a deep scarlet. "D-don't look!"

Sakura laughed and walked over, yanking off her pajama top (I immediately averted my eyes to anywhere else, but did accidentally catch a glimpse of the most amazing breast jiggles I had ever seen). "I don't think it's going to matter much at this point, Mayumi-chan, since you're going to SHOWER with him."

"Mmmm, alright; you can do this, Mayumi-chan," Mayumi told herself, pumping herself up to strip. She looked at me with something approaching desperation.

That was all the incentive I needed.

"No means no!" I suddenly yelped, jerking myself roughly out of Mayumi's hold and diving into Sakura's shower, closing the curtains shut behind me. "I'm sorry, but…like I said, I'm…just not in the mood." It's a good thing they can't see my crotch right now, or my bluff wouldn't work.

"Oh…okay…" Sakura said with obvious disappointment.

"I'll try to go really fast," I told them, turning the shower on. "I know you two were touching my disgusting body also, so you probably need to bathe as well."

"I'll, um…go get some towels," Sakura said, walking out the door.

As I shampooed my hair (saving my nose-cleaning for last), Mayumi finally spoke up. "Rin-kun…did you really not want to see me…?"

"You know it's not that, Mayumi-chan. I'm just trying to respect your dignity. I mean, you're my best friend; I don't think that there's anything worse we could possibly do for our friendship than bathe together."

Mayumi paused a moment, and then sounded sad when she spoke next. "I see…well, if you need anything..."

"I'll be right out, don't worry," I said, trying to steel myself for washing out my rotten nose.

* * *

Still stinging after that fantastic experience, I crept painfully out of the tub and wrapped Sakura's towel around my hips.

I hadn't meant to hurt their feelings; I just don't want to continue whoring myself to everyone just because they like me and I like them. I'm tired of being such a noncommittal person; I NEED to make a decision, like Asa and I agreed, because otherwise I feel like something disastrous might happen. It doesn't necessarily have to be the most perfect decision…just as long as I love them, and that they really love me, it shouldn't really matter too much who I pick, should it? Just as long as I really DO pick someone.

The bigger problem is, once I make my choice, I'll feel very guilty about letting down all the other girls that I've accidentally led on up to this point. I don't know if I can live with the feeling of hurting all these beautiful, amazing girls unless I'm absolutely sure I've made the correct choice.

I sighed and leaned against the wall. Even after showering, I still felt thoroughly infected by bugs. At least I'd mostly gotten my mouth cleaned out of the burrowing monstrosities, or so I hoped.

I heard voices outside the bathroom door; their alarmed tone and words spoken per second seemed to indicate that the princesses had arrived.

The jacket that I'd worn here would probably preserve my decency better than this skimpy towel; but it WAS covered with maggots and vomit, so it seemed that my choices were a bit limited.

Just as I was about to reach for the door, Sia burst through it, the side of the door swinging into my left hand with a crack.

"Holy mother of-" I began, eyes bugging out of surprise and brief, intense pain. Before I could do anything, though, Sia launched her entire exquisite body on me in tight embrace.

"Rin-kun! You're alright! You're really, really alright!"

I laughed and hugged her back, very conscious of my towel loosening and the feel of her firmly-sculpted body against my practically-naked one. "Only by a miracle."

Nerine came through the door, followed by a more subdued Sakura. The demon princess's hands flew to her mouth. "Rin-kun…your…nose! What in the world happened?"

"I, um…"

Sia pulled away suddenly (I quickly grabbed the towel to keep it from falling), saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, Rin-kun! I should have done this when I first walked in!" With that, she very graciously blessed me with the caressing green spell she always uses to heal me.

I closed my eyes and smiled, allowing the pleasure to wash over me and stem the throbbing ache of my pain. The spell felt like a full-body massage.

"There, that should do it," Sia said, and the subtle sounds of a choir singing left the room as the spell disappeared.

The first thing I did was put my hands up to my nose. "Awesome, it feels back to normal," I said, bowing my head to Sia. "Thank you…SO, SO much. As always, I am not worthy of your kindness."

Sia walked up and put her finger under my chin to lift me back up. "If you're not worthy, then I might as well kill myself right now, since you are the only reason I want to exist."

I felt very warm from her words, and sheepishly broke eye contact with her.

Nerine walked up and wrapped her arms around my naked torso (engulfing me, of course, in her absolutely sacred curves). "I'm glad you're alright, Rin-kun."

Holy hell. It's cruel for someone to be as beautiful as her and be in love with me.

While I was still trying not to think about Nerine's chest while it was smothering me, I noticed Sakura hold up a four-pack of vodka. "Drinks, anyone?"

"Um, s-sure, I'll take some," I said, gently removing my left hand out of Sia's grip and taking one from Sakura. "Oh! That reminds me!" I turned to Sia. "Did your spell also cure all the maggots and the slug that I ate?"

"The WHAT THAT YOU ATE?" Sia screeched, taking a step back. Nerine looked up at me with so much concern shining out of her adorable eyes that I had to look in the exact opposite direction in order to survive. Sia swallowed and answered, "Um…no. That spell only works for physical injuries, not diseases and…stuff."

"That's what I thought," I said, thumbing off the lid. "Thanks, Sakura-chan, by the way. So! I've been binge drinking this whole time, to try and throw up as much as I can of what I ate."

"Wow, that was smart," Nerine said, hugging me even tighter. At the moment, the only thing holding up my towel was her pelvis straddling my right hip.

I risked a brief smirk at her in acknowledgment. "Thanks. I think anyone gets a lot scrappier when they're about to, you know…die, though."

"Makes sense to me," Sakura said, walking out to the living room. "Follow me, there's girl drinks for the rest of us."

Feeling infinitely better, I walked out and jumped on Sakura's bed next to Mayumi, who was looking down at her feet in silence. The others were getting set up on drinks.

I looked at my depressed-looking friend. "Hey."

"Heya."

"How are you doing?"

Mayumi sighed and looked up at me. "I've been better."

"How so?"

"Well, you know; I just keep wishing that the future that I had always envisioned between the two of us could come true. I know, I know, that you just like me as a friend, but…" she trailed off, apparently unsure of what to say.

I scooted closer to her and took a long drink of vodka. "Mayumi-chan, I DO like you as more than a friend, even though I primarily think of you as one."

She looked at me with slight disbelief in her dichromatic eyes.

"I…I want to apologize for what I said in the cone with you. I was really worn out by the time you came and talked to me, so I didn't accept your feelings like I normally would have."

"It…" Mayumi sighed and turned her head away from me. "It's okay, Rin-kun, you don't have to force yourself."

"I'm not, I'm telling you my true feelings now; Mayumi-chan, I really do l-"

The two princesses simultaneously leapt on the bed (Sia on my left, Nerine on my right), Sia knocking me backwards onto the pillow with a squeal. "YAY! This is, like, a party on Sakura-chan's bed!"

"I know; weird, isn't it?" I said with slight amusement.

"Wow, it feels…nice…being on a bed with Rin-kun…" Nerine said, her face turning red up to her ears. She quietly scooted towards me and smiled down at me. I felt like dying in bliss.

Mayumi looked at me with one eye, mouthing "thanks," although I didn't know if she was being sarcastic or if she got my meaning.

Sakura sat down at the foot of her bed and crawled up towards me, too, sipping a margarita. "So then, I think you owe us something, Rin-kun?"

"What are you talking about? He owes us nothing!" Sia said, lying down next to me and wrapping her womanly legs around my thighs. Gods, I love her. I looked at her smiling face and almost exploded from how much sparkling beauty shone from it. She's…SO warm.

"I think she means how he got in such bad shape in the first place," Nerine said, leaning over me quite protectively.

I noticed Mayumi look even more down than before at seeing Nerine with me like that.

"That's right," Sakura said, stroking my legs gently, "You did promise us an explanation."

"Oh, finally! I've been waiting for one forever!" Sia agreed, snuggling up to my neck.

"I, um…" Well, I guess there wasn't any way to get out of it this time. I sat up, Sia hanging onto me with undeterred enthusiasm. "Okay; I'm going to be straight with you."

Mayumi cocked her head and made a weak grin. "Were you being homosexual before?"

I laughed; it wasn't that funny, but I wanted to encourage her. "Of course. Anyway, this situation goes back a long, LONG time. Um…" I paused, since Mayumi had suddenly summoned up a determined look in her eyes and crawled forward, sitting on my lap while facing me. My heart beating with anxiety along with Mayumi's, I looked hesitantly around at the other three. "Umm…do you guys mind?"

"Nope!" Sia said, straddling me with renewed vigor.

"Not at all," Nerine said, scooting back so that she was sitting side-by-side with me.

"About time," Sakura laughed.

Mayumi shakily exhaled and wrapped her legs around my lower back, so that her crotch was tightly spread out and pressed against mine.

I could feel her shivering with unease. I would have loved to wrap my arms around her, but they had both been taken captive by warring factions at the moment.

"I love you," Mayumi whispered, her lips brushing against mine as she spoke.

"Can we get on with it now?" Sakura queried, beginning to massage my legs more passionately.

"Yes! Okay, sorry about that; um…not too long after Sakura-chan left to go to her school, Kaede-chan and I's parents were involved in a fatal car crash…I mean, her mom died, and my parents did as well."

"Oh my gosh!" Nerine gasped.

"That's so sad…" Sia said.

"Yeah, I was cut up about it, for sure, but I was able to accept it and move past it. Maybe…or…I'm not sure. Maybe I've just been avoiding dealing with it cuz of…never mind. Anyway, Kaede-chan reacted MUCH, much more strongly than me, however."

"Well, that makes sense, since she was so close to her mom," Sakura commented, now groping the underside of my thighs.

"Yeah. She was in deep, deep depression, and she stopped eating, drinking, and, eventually, even moving. She pretty much allowed her guilt to eat her, whole, and then she went into a self-imposed coma."

"Wait, guilt?" Mayumi asked softly, thrusting me a couple times with her crotch. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, right; Kaede-chan blamed herself for her mother's death, since she was sick at the time; which was the reason that my parents and hers were in the car at the time of the accident. They were on their way home to visit her."

So far, so good. Coming up now is the stuff that I've never told anyone about before…this is such a surreal situation. I never thought I'd be spilling intimate details about my private affairs with Kaede to a quartet of impossibly beautiful women. Well…Mayumi's not impossibly beautiful (I'd NEVER tell her that, though), but I still find her cutely appealing, at any rate.

I continued to the best of my ability. "Several weeks passed, and things looked grim for Kaede-chan, so, after thinking about my options for a long time, I decided to tell Kaede-chan a lie, knowing full well what the consequences might be."

"A lie?" Nerine asked me in confusion, running her hand through my hair. As always, I could smell the fertile pheromones blasting out of her miniskirt.

"I told her that I was responsible for her mom's death, saying some story I made up about calling her mom so that she'd come visit Kaede-chan because Kaede-chan really missed her, or something like that. I tried my best to pass it off as truth, and I didn't think it worked at first…"

"Then…?" Sakura said, now looking at me with rapt attention.

"Well…Kaede-chan suddenly woke up, lunged at me, and strangled me with more strength than I thought anyone her age could possibly have, especially one that had been sick for so long. She pulled me down into the darkness of the floor next to her cot." For some reason, telling that secret…something I'd been hiding for a while…felt VERY good, vindictive, and freeing, even.

"Wow, well that wasn't very nice of her," Nerine said, her forehead knotted with concern.

"Why would she hurt you over something like that?" Sia asked, narrowing her eyes. "I mean, even if it WAS true that you called her mom, it wasn't like you would have done anything blame-worthy! The only people at fault were the drivers of both cars!"

"No…" I muttered.

"What do you mean, no?" Sia asked.

"Well, you know; if that HAD happened, I would've still taken full responsibility over what happened. I wouldn't blame Kaede-chan for hurting me."

"But this…hurting…has continued up until now, right?" Sakura said.

I nodded, starting to feel guilty about tattling on Kaede. This was just between me and her; they couldn't possibly understand how our relationship works!

"No way!" Mayumi gasped. "You mean you've been carved up more often than just tonight?"

"Of COURSE he has," Sia said. I was starting to get an angry vibe from her.

"What else did she do to you over the years, Rin-kun?" Nerine asked in a soothing voice.

"I-I don't really want to…"

"Yes, please tell us!" Sia agreed, holding my hand tightly.

I sighed. "Let's just leave it at the fact that she's been a less-than-model friend for all these years, and has tortured me in A TON of ways, and not just physically."

All four girls' eyes were locked intensely on me, making me a bit nervous. Sakura nodded very gravely.

"I'm sorry you've had to go through that," Mayumi said, rubbing the back of my neck. "You don't have to tell us the details if you don't want to."

Sia gnashed her teeth. "Well, it's not been pretty, let me tell you. Almost every day, sometimes twice in the same night, Rin-kun comes over to my house so I can heal him. He's usually covered in cuts and scrapes, and often is missing certain body parts, or they've been deformed or stabbed beyond recognition."

I just nodded and looked at the closet, feeling very upset.

"Oh, Rin-kun…" Nerine said, hugging me affectionately, which did succeed in bringing a smile to my face, despite my feelings.

"I always thought there was something weird about her…" Mayumi said.

"You're incredible!" Sakura gasped. "Why would you keep going back there, knowing that she was going to do that?"

I shrugged and decided to try and explain. "Kaede-chan carried an enormous amount of self-blame with her after her mother's death…so much so that it became a sort of intense hatred, directed only at herself and who she thought she was."

I swallowed. "After my intervention at the hospital, she DID stop hating herself, as I'd hoped, although she still has a twisted self-image; but she just redirected all that hatred solely on me, with seemingly rising intensity every week. Eventually, she started spouting stuff about me never should have being born, and that I am a very evil person, one that it is her duty to destroy, and just stuff like that."

"But you're not!" Sia interjected. "You're one of the best people I've ever met!"

The other girls nodded affirmingly.

I sighed and looked away from everyone. "But I know the extent of her hatred firsthand, and as such it is up to me to protect her from that hatred by making myself a sacrificial lamb for her negative feelings. It is only then that I can keep her safe from the wrath of her own, unchecked emotions, so that she can live a normal life without beating herself up and loathing herself as much as she does me."

I nodded to myself despite everyone's skeptical looks. "That is why I cannot stop being her housemate; I'm her guardian, in a twisted way. I do this for her because I care for her as a friend, and if it allows her to be happy, then who am I to take that away from her?"

"Well," Sakura said, sighing. "In a weird way, I can see your point…or at least, see where you're coming from."

"Really?" Mayumi asked her skeptically.

Sakura nodded. "But that doesn't excuse Kaede-chan's side at all! She's turned into a heartless, monstrous BITCH!"

"HEY!" I said.

"You know it's true," Sakura told me. "There isn't any way that Kaede is human AT ALL anymore, and she certainly can't have any sort of appreciation, or even realization, for what you've done! Do you really want to throw your life away for someone so terrible?"

I glowered. "The only way she can live or be happy, AT ALL, is if I do this. And I'M the only one able to. So the choice is obvious. I could be selfish and live for myself, like every single other person on this stupid, egocentric planet, OR I continue to let her gouge out my eyes, beat me, and castrate me, and, by doing so, make my life really count for something BEYOND myself. Not very many people have the opportunity to do something like this for someone they love."

"That's a very noble cause, Rin-kun," Sakura said, sounding like she was purposefully calming her voice down. "But you have to remember, there are many other people who like you AND love you, in a way that Kaede-chan could never dream of. By doing this act of kindness for her, you are going to bring pain and hurt to so many others…I think that justifies you stopping this hurtful cycle."

"She will DIE if I don't," I countered. I was getting angry because I knew she was right…but it would be too painful to admit.

"Guys, calm down," Nerine said quietly. This only seemed to fan Sakura's rage, though.

"Who the HELL cares if someone like Kaede-chan dies?" Sakura shouted. "All you're doing by keeping her alive is perpetuating someone's life in society who SHOULD be locked up in a cell forever for what they've done. If she's content to kill herself, then I say, let her put that fucking gun in her mouth and encourage her to pull the trigger. That way, everyone's happy!"

I growled, not knowing what to say, and threw my head back against her headboard. "Yeah…I know…"

"Atta boy!" Sia smiled, petting my bicep. "And besides, you don't know that she WILL start hating herself again, if you leave."

"I…suppose…" I muttered, looking at the ceiling. But, this last week, isn't that what she was doing when she locked herself in her room?

Mayumi hugged me tightly to her. "Just take a break, Rin-kun…you've done your best! It's okay to leave her to handle her pain by herself!"

"Y-yeah…" Maybe they were right.

"You're fighting for her right to live, Rin-kun, but what about yours? I know you think it's selfish, for some reason, to consider your own happiness in this situation," Nerine said, snuggling next to me, "but I don't think that finding a glimmer of hope is really 'selfishness;' and I don't think that really you think so, either. Kaede-chan's just made you think that way."

Sakura nodded. "So how about it? Do you want to spend the night here while we talk about what to do?"

"Um, s-sure, I guess…" I said, blushing now. Sakura pumped her fist in the air victoriously. Sleep with four women at once? And they were OKAY with it? "If it's alright with you girls," I said quietly.

Sia poked me. "Of course it is!"

"So, moving on to happier thoughts…I don't mean to pressure you," Nerine said, "but I'm gonna ask you a question."

"Do it, do it!" Sia clapped excitedly as Mayumi stared at them with confusion.

I gulped. "Alright, shoot."

Nerine continued. "I want you to answer honestly, alright?"

"Uh-huh…" I started to get a strong feeling of doom from the way this conversation was going.

"Do you love the four of us," Nerine nodded towards the others, "about the same amount?"

My heart started hammering. What should I say?

"Um…"

Mayumi averted her eyes and squeezed her pelvis tightly around my crotch as the other girls watched me, eagerly awaiting the answer.

"Well, I do, I guess!" I finally said, feeling myself blush deeply. "I definitely do love each of you, just in a different way; but, each are about the same amount of feeling, I-I guess." Man, my heart just won't stop! I saw obvious relief on both Sakura and Mayumi's face.

"I thought so," Sia said with a smile, leaning on me.

"You see, we were discussing this on the way over," Nerine cooed, still hugging me. "Have you heard about the gods' um…unique…marriage tradition?"

"Nope!" I laughed, having no idea where this was going. It did feel pretty pleasant to have Nerine, Sia, AND Mayumi all on me at the same time, like this.

"We practice polygamy," Sia said proudly.

I would have snorted vodka out of my nose if I was still drinking it. "DO WHAT?" That certainly opened up a new array of possibilities…but I wasn't sure that a marriage like that was what I wanted…

"Yup, like I said; most male gods take multiple women as their wives," Sia continued, now murmuring to me gently.

"O-kay…?" I said, looking up to the ceiling.

"So…is that something you would be interested in?" Sakura asked me.

"Um…I don't know…" I was having trouble thinking clearly. And felt likely to explode. "Well…um…even if it IS how the gods' world works, I'm not really sure that it would sit right with me…since, you know, I've always just kind of wanted a deep, meaningful relationship with only one girl, but…" I smiled at them. "My situation's a little bit changed now, I think, especially since I DO love all of you quite a bit. I think I'd still prefer marriage with just one girl, but I'm, um…open to it. How about all of you?"

I looked around to Sia first, since she makes me the least nervous. "Well, of course I'M open to it!" she beamed. "I would be honored to be your only wife, of course, but this is very normal in my world, and I would be happy to share you with everyone!"

Well…not…EVERYONE, I hope.

Sakura spoke up next. "If it meant that I'd be your wife and be at your side for the rest of my life, then of COURSE I'd love to do that! You know I love you, and if this is the choice you make, then I'd be totally on board!"

"Um…" Nerine said, still hugging me tightly. "I'm not a big fan of this tradition, really, but as long as, at least one day a week, I got to sleep alone with you and have you all to myself, then I'd be up for it." She shook her head. "I'm not sure what my father will say about this, though."

"Thanks, girls," I said, still feeling overheated, unworthy, and very, very small. I looked furtively at Mayumi. "How about you…?"

Mayumi smiled and kissed me on the lips. "If you DO love me like you say you did, then, yes, I'm yours if you would like to take me."

"Wow…" I said, now way more happy than is likely healthy. "Thanks…a-a-a-and, I do love you, Mayumi-chan!"

"Awesome! So! Now that that's decided," Sakura exclaimed, looking at Sia. "How long do you think it would take for your dad to get a wedding organized?"

Whoa, slow down there, nothing's decided yet!

Sia laughed, "We've had a wedding ceremony set up since the day Daddy and I moved here!"

"So, Rin-kun won't ever have to go back to live with Kaede-chan!" Nerine said happily. "This'll work out perfectly! We can just let him stay with all of us until the marriage gets settled and we move into the palace together!"

Uh-oh, things are moving very quickly without me. I now have two options; the life I've been living as Kaede's mutilation doll, or total bliss and happiness with four AWESOME girls who love me and who would each be happy if I chose that.

Two completely opposite roads.

I don't know which to choose…I care about Kaede very much…but it IS true that she absolutely despises me, is probably a little less than human, and almost certainly has done actions that ought to earn me the right to stop being there for her. And this polygamy idea is a way that I could actually make everyone happy, an opportunity that I never thought would arise!

Everyone except Kaede, who I've given so much of my life to, up until this point…

Was that all a mistake?

"Rin-kun, what's up? You seem deep in thought," Mayumi asked me, her forehead leaning against mine.

"Is something wrong?" Sia asked.

I shook my head. Maybe it was time for me to pursue other options…especially ones that would cause fewer good people pain.

"Sorry, I was just trying to decide what to do," I said softly. "But, I think…" I smiled at them. "That you've made a good argument."

"YAY!" Sakura, Nerine, and Sia exclaimed, while Mayumi continued to look into my eyes with quiet intensity.

"So I'm TENTATIVELY accepting this arrangement," I continued. "Sia, you can tell your dad if you want, so he knows that we might get married soon."

"Awesome! I'm on it!" Sia sang, flipping out her cell and walking over to the bathroom to call her dad.

I feel really freaking happy.

"FINALLY! I get a chance to hold you!" Sakura said, scooting up to where Sia had been sitting and leaning on me. Her white pajamas were almost totally see-through, and, thus, very enticing. She kissed me on the neck. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you before."

"Oh, it's alright..."

* * *

"...thanks for talking some sense into-" I broke off since, all of a sudden, I found myself in an empty, brown room, seated in a white wicker chair.

"Umm, this is weird," I muttered, when suddenly a bright, yellow flame appeared before me, out of which the hideous, rotten, foaming face of the goat-dragon appeared.

"You…obtuse little SHFLLLITTT!" he spasmed out, "I've been trying to fucking contact you! Pay attention, fudgepacker!"

"Uh, um…sorry?" I said, wide-eyed. I'd kind of hoped that that hallucination from the other day was a one-time thing.

"Your little underage cockhound…what's her name? The one that you sleep with every night?"

"…Primula?"

"Yeah, that's the ho. She's in grave danger right now, I've been trying to tell you. If you want to save her life, you need to ACT, NOW, fucker!"

I gawked. "Are you serious? How? Why? What's going on?"

"JUST SHUT UP, get off your penis-pumped ASS, and go save your little bitch. ALRIGHT?"

"U-um, sure, thanks," I said, getting out of the chair.

* * *

As I did, reality promptly shifted back to Sakura's room, where I sat straight up in her bed, knocking Mayumi backwards.

"Rin-kun! What's wrong?" Nerine asked.

"Sorry about that, Mayumi-chan," I said. "Um…we have to go!"

"Go? What? Why?" Sakura asked, still holding on to me. "Weren't we going to go to sleep soon…?"

"I had another vision," I told her. "I'm not sure how trustworthy it is, but…it told me that Primula's going to die any second if we don't do something, fast!"

"Well, visions can be pretty reliable," Nerine said, folding her arms. "Sia was right about hers tonight, after all."

"So are these visions…a recurring thing?" Mayumi asked, getting up off the bed and brushing herself off. I noticed a dark, damp spot on the crotch of her shorts; I wondered if it was from her or me.

I followed her up. "I'm sorry to cut our time short, but we really have to go!"

"But we can still sleep here afterwards, right?" Nerine said, hugging me from behind and re-tightening my towel (her hands brushed against my genitals several times, probably purposefully).

"I hope so," I said. "But for now, let's roll!"

"Hi, everyone!" Sia sang, skipping out of the bathroom. "The wedding's all set for next Thursday!"

"Really? That's awesome!" I said, hugging her. "Right now, we have to go, though; Primu-chan's in mortal danger."

"Oh my gosh! That's terrible!" she gasped.

"We can take my car," Sakura said with as she grabbed her keys.

* * *

The four girls and I quickly made it back to the Fuyou household. (They constantly told me everything was going to be okay, even though they, like I, obviously had no idea what the situation really entailed at this point)

"Okay, stay in the car, girls," I said, crawling up over Mayumi on the way out. "If I take long, just come follow me."

"Oh, no way!" Mayumi said, unbuckling herself as well.

"That's right! There's no chance we're letting you go back in there with that freak without our help!" Sakura said.

"Besides, you need me to cure Primu-chan!" Sia said.

I sighed. "Alright, you can come in. But just stay in the family room, okay? Because, like, up until now, Kaede's never done anything to harm Primula, so I don't even know if my vision was correct. And you guys showing up will definitely make Kaede pissed, if she finds out. So, for now, just try to hide yourselves from her. I don't want to have any sort of struggle with her, if we can help it."

"Okay," Nerine said, getting out of the car, too. "But I could destroy her easily, without even a trace at all!"

"I know," I said, patting her lovingly on her back. "Let's try to avoid that at all costs though, okay?"

"…I guess…" she looked disappointed.

"Alright, let's go," Sakura said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up to the front door.

Trying to swallow down my feelings about betraying Kaede, I unlocked the door and led the four girls in. It was, as usual, pitch black and completely silent.

"Just stay here," I whispered. All four girls promptly hugged me, one at a time, whispering words of encouragement. I smiled and waved to them before running off to the stairs, holding my towel up as I went.

You're going to be so sorry, Kaede, if you actually DID do anything to Primula.

I went over to Primula's room first, followed by mine, to make sure she wasn't there, and she wasn't.

That left only Kaede's room. The one with blacklight seeping out through the cracks around the door. I swallowed down my rising dread and opened the door, slowly walking in.

Every function in my body stopped cold at the sight I saw beyond the many demonic artifacts hanging from string in her violet room.

Primula was currently nailed to a cross, completely naked, and arms spread wide. Where before she never ceased to be effortlessly beautiful, the way she appeared now was easily the most nightmarish vision I'd ever seen.

Both of her eyes had been gouged out, and blood streamed down from her sockets all the way down to her crotch.

Her lips had been removed, but it didn't look like they had been cut off…more like chewed off…

Several spiral lacerations had been made into her beautiful skin, making her look enslaved to a pattern of blood that covered her body.

Both of her nipples had been cut off, and her small breasts were still leaking blood and fat.

And her vagina had been tortured somehow, too, as it was red, bloody, and shredded. The most blood on her entire body was on the inside of her legs.

I felt sick. I felt insane just from looking at it. I was so sad at this happening to Primula that I couldn't even begin to move.

Kaede…

(It's my fault, it's my fault!)

You…

(Dammit, it's my goddamned fault! She's mutilated and it's all my fault!)

…aren't human after all, are you?

"Rin? Is that you?" Primula croaked painfully out.

"Primula…" I mouthed.

Like having your testicles ripped off, Kaede jumped into me, cracking open my silent shell of shock.

"Welcome home, Rin-kun," she said in a masculine voice, grabbing the left side of my head and using a power drill INTO MY RIGHT EAR.

"BLVBLWEWAAAAAAAARHRRHGHGH!" I screamed as my eardrum exploded with a crunching bang.

Kaede kept drilling through the mutilated cartilage and bone, laughing hysterically. "Nice fucking towel!"

I gasped hoarsely, trying to grab her and get her off me, but I was too weak from the damning, hellish pain from the side of my head.

The drill chipped through my skull, and I roared again in pain. She then let me go. I fell straight down to the floor on my back, completely unable to rationalize or move at all.

"Rin…it hurts…" Primula croaked again.

Kaede smirked and stomped her foot down on my face, the front of my skull cracking from the impact.

* * *

**A/N:** Well then, there's Chapter 11! As always, I hope you got a lot out of it, and will come back around for another session in Chapter 12 of Moonbite!

And, you would be surprised at how much I enjoy hearing your thoughts through a review! Any feedback at all, positive or negative, will be absolutely treasured by me. You don't even have to write an opinion, you can just put in random words if it suits you! ^_^

See ya soon!


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **It would appear that I have returned, after an unforgivably long wait, with another chapter of Moonbite! And it is so! I may be a little rusty, but I intend to be here to stay, like it or not!

You would do me great honor by enjoying this new chapter.

Bon appétit!

* * *

**Moonbite **

**Chapter 12**

_(Rin's Point of View)_

Quite to my surprise, I once again became groggily aware of my surroundings. It took me a second to understand that I was awake, but Kaede's familiar ranting tone brought me crashing back.

It was dark…the stench of blood filled the room…my living room, it seemed. I was in the base of the stairwell with Kaede holding me up by the neck, her fingernails stabbing deep into my skin. My fiancées Mayumi, and Nerine were staring at us in a bizarre mix of absolute horror and relief, while Sakura was railing against Kaede for betraying their friendship (a sentiment I wholeheartedly agreed with). But where was Sia?

My eyes glanced down and I happened to see the beautiful princess unconscious on the floor, still dressed only in a towel. I felt pitiful…she probably tried to help me…and Kaede…that abomination…did something to her.

As rage enveloped me, the grisly image of Primula's crucifixion snapped brutally back into my head. And, speaking of my head…it feels better! Sia must have been in the process of curing my drilled brain when Kaede attacked her! That…fucking…

"What did you do?" I said, swiveling my head to glower at my childhood friend, who was suspending me in midair with somewhat superhuman strength.

"Oh, you're awake! How positively delightful. We can now get on with the proceedings, then," Kaede snickered. "You and your whores' little game ends now."

"Oh, Rin-kun," Nerine gasped in relief.

"Thank god!" Sakura breathed.

"Get out of there, Rin-kun – now! Then Nerine-chan can give her several new assholes!" Mayumi shouted.

I did want to get out of there, and I also deeply wanted to see Kaede destroyed at the moment, but I didn't necessarily want to make the situation worse. I knew I'd probably regret her dying, later, even after all she'd done…but my patience was quickly growing thin. "Hey, can we have a time out real fast?" I asked Kaede pathetically. "Things have changed, and I think it might be…"

"Oh yes, let's just take a breather and talk about everything, right? GO FUCK YOURSELF, slave! You've betrayed me…AGAIN! How many times to I have to shred you into shit before you'll fucking behave, you piece of SHIT?"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Kaede-chan, okay…first, just answer me…what did you do to Sia-chan?"

"I don't answer to you, cunt-breath!" she slobbered. "You told all your little hookers about you and I's little…arrangement, didn't you?"

"…well…" Still shaking with anger, I looked at Nerine, who was staring at me direly. I nodded to her questioning gaze, and I tensed in preparation as her lips began moving.

"Well, they sure as fuck-fire know about it now, don't they? So what do you think we should do about it, then, hmm?"

A yellow arc of brilliant light suddenly lanced across the room from Nerine's open mouth, blasting the side of the stairwell, right next to Kaede. She yelped in fright and let go of me, and I immediately sprung forward, wrapping both hands around Sia's unconscious (and terrifyingly sexy) body, and leapt away again to the safety of my fiancées, feeling Kaede's claws scrape against my head in desperation as I did.

"FUCK!" Kaede cursed, now looking at a loss for what to do.

"Any last words, you vile BITCH?" Nerine asked Kaede, her eyes glowing a bluish-white. I'd never heard her curse before, and it sounded much more threatening coming from her delicate mouth.

"Nerine-chan!" I said, quickly walking over to calm her. "Please don't, we need to settle things first, okay?"

"I knew it! You ARE on their side, aren't you? How could you betray me like this?" Kaede snarled at me, but I heard the deep hurt inside her words. She's completely nuts! I don't know if there's any hope for her, but…I'm not about to let Nerine destroy her, even if Kaede's hardly my childhood friend anymore.

"Rin-kun…are you sure...? Think of how much harm she's caused you over the years." Nerine said simply, turning to me and gazing at me with pupil-less eyes. "It is justice to turn her into a puddle of blood."

I sighed and desperately put my hand on her shoulder. "Nerine-chan, please…go get help! Eustoma-san can save Sia-chan and Primu-chan!"

"What? Primula-chan is hurt..?" Nerine said, her eyes slowly becoming normal again.

"Yes, so – please!" I said, getting on my knees in front of her and lowering my head.

"Oh, Rin-kun, please don't do that!" Nerine gasped quickly.

"Dammit, I was hoping to see some bloodshed," Mayumi muttered.

"You might see that yet," Sakura said threateningly.

"Mayumi-chan, please go with Nerine-chan," I said, looking at her as earnestly as possible. "Thanks for standing by me, but…this is between me, Kaede-chan, and Sakura-chan."

"I understand," she said, turning and walking by me, stopping to say, "I love you."

"I love you, too," I told her, patting her small shoulder gently. "Be careful."

"Rin-kun," Nerine said, coming up and hugging me (fear rose up in my chest for a moment, but I stamped it back down), "I'm sorry for going against you; please forgive me!"

"Nerine-chan, you're totally fine, and…didn't even do anything wrong, there's nothing to forgive. I'll talk to you later, I promise."

"Okay, I'll be back!" the two girls ran out the door with Sia's body, leaving just Sakura, me, and Kaede.

"Wow, we're…really doing this…" I said, looking worriedly at the two, who were locked into a glare war of utmost contempt for each other.

"Kaede-chan…what the HELL are you doing?"

"Oh, I don't know, Sakura-chan…what kind of friend leaves for many, many years, and only comes back to completely disregard her every wish and steal her property?" Kaede spat.

"What…PROPERTY? Rin-kun is the greatest man I have ever met." I blushed uncomfortably as she said this. "And you should realize it, too, judging by how long he has stayed with your depraved, twisted ass! Out of loyalty to you! And how much of that have you shown him, hmm?"

"Rin-kun…is a MURDERER!"

"Are you stupid? Don't change the subject. First off…he's not. What happened to your mom was an accident!"

"Choose to believe such dogmatic bullshit if you wish, but I know the truth! He is a pathetic, amoral, worthless shithole of a man!"

"Girls, girls," I interjected. "Calm down, let's…"

"No, Rin-kun! I know you're nicer than anyone else on the planet, but even YOU have to have some limits, don't you? How long are you going to be able to forgive and forget?"

That's a good point…how long can I go on like this, giving her chances to redeem herself, opportunities to become whole again? I'm done with it…or just about…I need to give her ONE last chance…a big one, and make it clear that it's the last…an olive branch…that's the only way…

Sakura turned back to Kaede and said, "Second, I asked you to take care of him for me while I was gone! How the hell is this taking care of him? You are a monster, and you've betrayed not only me and him, but your mother as well! Do you really think she would…"

But what? I need to give Kaede one last opportunity…perhaps…doing something drastic, like…oh…that's an idea…but should I…

"DON'T insult my mother, bitch! She would want justice! JUSTICE, hello? Haven't you ever heard of it?" Kaede paused to wipe some drool off her face.

Can I betray Sakura like that? Goodness knows that she deserves my lifelong obedience, not Kaede. But she doesn't need it, Kaede does. Even then, though, does that still make choosing Kaede over her a moral choice?

"Nothing in all of reality could justify half the things you've done to him," Sakura said coldly.

"Fuck you!" Kaede snarled back.

"Justice is him finding happiness with me and everyone else, and YOU being locked up in solitary confinement for the rest of your life, suffering, alone and going insane," Sakura continued.

"Sakura-chan," I said, my heart bubbling with confusion. It should be an easy choice. I hate Kaede, don't I? Well, I should, but…I don't, for some reason. And she cares about me too, a tiny bit, doesn't she? She always gets upset when I'm not around…and acts like people betray her when I'm occupied with them instead of her. There's got to be something to that.

And that's what I'm going to act on.

"Yes, Rin-kun?" she said, turning to me again.

Kaede was looking at us both, shaking, red-faced. She was clearly vulnerable and hurt, just using the anger as a shield to her feelings. And I can finally prove my dedication to her, in a way that she can't possibly question.

I cleared my throat. Here goes. "Sakura-chan…thank you for defending me and for trying to protect me."

"Of course, Rin-kun! Anytime! I'm yours forever and ever!" she said, smiling beautifully.

Oh GODS, my heart aches. This is going to suck to do.

"But there's something you aren't taking into consideration." I took a deep breath, my eyes on Kaede. "I'm in love with Kaede-chan."

Both of their faces went slate blank from shock, Sakura's paling, and Kaede's turning red.

"W-w-w-what…?" Sakura breathed in, horribly sadly.

"I-is that true?" Kaede said, her voice sounding weaker and more pathetic than I'd ever heard it before. "You…you have to be lying, right?"

Well, yes, I am lying…but if it'll help Kaede…it's the right thing to do. And so far, it seems like the idea has merit. All the hostility is completely gone from her voice.

"It's true, Kaede-chan, I…that's the reason I've always stayed by you. I love you, and care about you too much to let you hurt yourself with your anger!"

Sakura remained silent, turning away. I tried to swallow away the guilt, but it wasn't going anywhere fast.

Kaede, on the other hand, shrunk back into the wall, her face knotting up. I can't believe it; she's…crying?

"All the times you've ever hurt me," I said, walking over to my damaged orange-haired friend. "I've been happy to endure it…because if I didn't, I know you'd turn all that hatred into yourself again. And you have no idea how much I want to protect you…" There. All that's the truth. I really do care about her, after all.

"Rin-kun…oh…oh my god!" Kaede said, now looking up at me from her place on the carpet. "I…I didn't know…I…holy SHIT! I wouldn't have…oh my GOD! You…love…me?" My heart inexplicably started beating faster at the sight of newly born hope in her eyes.

Disconcerted, I turned back to Sakura, who was so disturbed that it was hard to look at…especially knowing that I was the cause. Her entire face seemed to have darkened somehow.

"Sakura-chan…" I said, trying to inject as much of an apology as I could, since she was the one I was really in love with. "I'm so, so sorry, but…"

"Don't say it! Please, I'm begging you!" The darkness left her face as she looked at me with raw dread.

I looked away. "Kaede-chan's…the one I'm in love with."

Both girls made some sort of gurgling sound in response.

Sakura stalked forward and grabbed both of my shoulders, forcing me to face her. "How…how COULD you? I can understand you not loving me, but…KAEDE-chan?" she asked incredulously. "And after all you've said to me…after I've pledged myself to you…what…what…WHY? Why does it have to be like this?"

I waited until she was done before I removed her hands from my shoulders and squeezed them, saying with as much absolute certainty as I could fake, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan…but I'll always choose Kaede-chan over you."

"Rin-kun!" Kaede gasped.

There. That should do it for Kaede, if there's any hope for her. She now has no choice but to realize my olive branch…it's her choice if she wants to take it or not.

All life drained from Sakura's face and tear-ridden eyes…she mouthed "Good-bye," and blankly turned to go out the door.

"Sakura-chan…" I said, trying not to cry, myself. "What are you going to do?"

"Anything…as long as I never, ever see the two of you again," she whispered, before disappearing behind the door, the latch shutting with a click of finality.

I've made my choice…to side with the devil. There's no turning back now. I've chosen to forsake, no, betray, all the other girls in order to help Kaede.

But that is the way I want it, right? Right? Damn it, Rin-kun, don't go back on your actions now!

I walked back over to Kaede, grabbed her by her bloody arm, and pulled her up as non-threateningly as I could. She was so close now…and not at my throat. It was surreal, and sort of nostalgic. There were tears in her eyes, along with lots of different emotions I couldn't place.

"Rin-kun…thank you for saying that stuff…" she said, her face twitching all over the place.

I did want to hug her, but I also knew that she was very picky about when she could be touched or not. I was so close…the last thing I wanted was to blow her only chance at recovery.

"You're welcome, Kaede-chan, but let's not talk here; Eustoma-sama's coming any second, you know!"

"Oh, shit, you're right!"

"Do you know the bridge? The one just to the south of the bazaar?"

"Y-yes, I think so!"

"Okay, please run there and hide! After I settle things here, I'll come meet you, okay? As soon as I'm done. I promise."

"Alright, I'll do it," she said, pausing for a while for who knows what reason. We continued to just stare at each other's eyes, entranced.

"Well, um…see you later?" I tried.

"Ah! Right! Okay! I'll see you then!" she said, her tone of voice sounding like she was about to cry.

She ran out the back door, still drenched in blood and only wearing her skimpy pajamas.

I sighed…finally alone.

What do I do now…I only have one shot at this, just like Kaede only has one chance left with me…I have to be careful not to fuck this up.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

As fuck would have it, a torrential downpour began as I was getting close to the bridge that I thought Rin was talking about. Sighing, I kept going, ignoring the looks of perverted fucktards that ogled me as I sprinted past. At the very least, the rain would wash Primu and Rin's blood off…

Rin…Rin…what a crazy fucker.

I shot under the nasty bridge, shivering and sitting on a mossy rock in wait. It was so fucking cold out.

The rain outside blocked out everything, letting me focus on the inside…I was lost. The storm that had blasted and kicked around in my head for years and years had suddenly froze to a complete standstill with his words.

"I'm in love with Kaede-chan," I repeated, wondering if I'd imagined him saying it. No, I don't…think so…

I hugged myself in grief as I realized my heart was starting to give in. I still liked him, of course…even after he went home with Sakura that one time, I wanted to belong to him…but…I never, in my wildest masturbation sessions EVER thought that he could ever return my feelings! Holy shit!

And, damn it, I've desecrated myself now. I held my breast and winced from the pain of my scarred flesh where my nipple once was. This was all for nothing, now…

Wait a minute. Just wait a goddamn minute. Why should I like him? It's clearly betraying Mother if I do. He's her murderer; he's insane, sick, twisted, evil, vile, and putrid. Right?

But Sakura's right. Even if he is…all those things…I'm exactly the same. I hate to admit it, but I think I'm a bit crazy now, too. Sure, it might be Rin's fault, but…hey, it's not his fault that I started to like him. That was all me. And if he feels the same, then…would it…not be too bad…to be…with…him?

I blushed and shivered. I can't believe I'm even considering it. He loves me, though…and, despite him murdering Mother, he still, willingly, endured all my torture – happily – because he thought it would help me! It all makes sense now…Madam Moonbite was leading me astray this whole time. Rin was the one I should have pledged myself to, since he's the one that's always cared for me, despite all of his torture. Even if it became dangerous to be with a sinful person like him…THAT was the right thing to do.

Besides, he's already died…my revenge for Mother is complete. I'm off the hook now!

"You hear that, Madam Moonbite? I'm retired! I'm done! I don't want to see you anymore!" I screamed with delight and certainty. I waited, quite sure of myself, to tell her off when she came. Nothing but refreshing silence greeted me, however.

Because…regardless of all the shit we've gone through…I do love Rin and want to fuck his brains out. And he at least likes me a little bit. That's all I need to make a fresh start. I'm done being a pawn of morality. I'm as amoral as you can get and still be alive, fucking shit!

Rin…if he has any of his allegiance to me left at all, and he says he does – he even dumped Sakura right in front of me, like she was a common street hooker, HAH! – then there's hope for me, after all, goddammit!

I'm counting on you, Rin! Please…PLEASE don't let me down now!

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Wow…this is…a lot of rain.

I ran through the streets, trying not to slip. Although I felt kind of bad about sending Kaede out here in the rain, it would've been too risky to hide her anywhere in the house. Eustoma was completely furious, naturally, like any normal person; I was a little scared of him. He said that Primula would be alright eventually, thank god; he and Sia would be treating her for an extended period of time.

I couldn't look at Nerine and Mayumi, though…I don't know if they know what happened, but I can't take any more pain right now. My betrayal of Sakura is ripping a hole through my throat and heart.

And Kaede. What now? I don't really love her, do I? Should I just keep on staying by her side, and waiting on her every need? What the fuck do I do?

I remembered Asa's advice about love, so I tried picturing Kaede's lovely, smiling image under the veil at my wedding.

Holy…shit! Maybe I do love her! I never felt this warm and happy inside when I tried that technique about the other girls.

Hmm…but it doesn't make any sense. Why the hell would I like Kaede more than, say, Sia, when Kaede's meant nothing but ill will to me since we were kids…?

Ohhh…I think I understand. The Kaede I'm in love with, the one that makes me feel safe and gooey inside when I think about her, is the one I knew when we were kids. The original Kaede, the pure girl who has completely disappeared, paving way for the monster I've known for so long. I hate what she is now, but I'm in love with the old Kaede. That makes sense, I think. It at least explains why I was willing to suffer so much for her, in hopes of restoring her old self one day.

Shit, so…maybe I wasn't lying when I confessed to Kaede. But what now? She seemed adorably hopeful when I confessed a minute ago…I think I may have just glimpsed her old self! And that's why my heart started beating like that…

I can't lose that part of her to the darkness! I…I…somehow, I have to coax it out of her!

But should I please the current Kaede, or would that just prolong her unhealthiness? Hmm…it doesn't make sense to be mean to her…but, at any rate, I should take things as slowly as possible, so that she doesn't get freaked out and think I'm a pervert or something. If I just treat her with respect and care, then maybe she'll get better? I hope?

Damn it, I'm screwed. I could really use some advice right now.

And the others…I guess…the wedding is over? I feel horrible about that. But, perhaps, that was never my choice to begin with. Up till now, I've always gone with the flow with everything concerning these many, many relationships. Now, though, I'm finally choosing…

…I choose Kaede.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Alright, so what do I do now? That is always the question, isn't it? Although this time it's more pressing, since, heh, I don't know WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON! For once, Rin has control of the situation…and it makes me nervous. I trust him, of course, and I think he'll protect me from everyone…but I also want to sleep with him in my bed…just riding his cock and fucking marvelously, roughly, insanely! Woohoo!

But how can I seduce him when his feelings for me are such a big question mark? I mean, does he LOVE love me? Or is it more like a sibling love? Nah, that can't be it, since he said "I'm in love with" so-and-so. But he doesn't necessarily want to fuck me…after all, I've seen his penis many times, and it's never been hard at all, so…either he has some issues with the ol' equipment, or he doesn't think of me like that.

In any case, I don't want to scare him off…I know he won't stand for any more of my…tactics…and I don't want him to misinterpret me wanting to get him naked and ravage his sexy body as something else. CAN you mistake that for something else?

He is a shy boy, though, and very, very sensitive, so I don't want to reject his goodwill. I HIGHLY doubt he went through all that just so he could get my sexy fucking pussy. I mean, my cunt IS just that awesome, but he had four other VIRGINS all BETROTHED to him, according to Sia, anyway, so he couldn't possibly want me just for the sex! Even I can see that.

He must actually, really love me (dammit, my face is getting red again, and all I'm doing is thinking! Okay…and masturbating too) and I will try my hardest not to ruin that. No one's ever loved me before…I hope everything works out!

"Kaede-chan!" Rin's forceful voice shook me out of my thoughts.

I jumped off the rock, whipping my hand out of my sleeping shorts as fast as possible. "R-R-Rin-kun!" I gasped, unable to take my eyes off just how WET he looked. I…could be in trouble here.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, his voice as beautiful as I thought a boy's voice could possibly be. He wiped the rain out of his hair and off his face, and I couldn't help but lick my lips.

"Oh! Um…no worries!" I clasped my hands together in front of myself and tried to smile, but I was really nervous. And being nervous has a habit of making your smiles look like a retarded hippopotamus's buttcrack.

Rin approached me slowly, and I found it way too hard to look at him. I suddenly felt bad…really, really bad…for torturing him for so long, when he really was always actually a pretty nice guy, and sexy to boot!

"Rin-kun…I…" I squinted my eyes shut, assuming he would punch me or something. I did deserve it.

But nothing came. "Um…you're shivering; are you cold?" he said, his voice coaxing and comforting. If only he knew how wet I was for him at the moment.

"Yeah, sorry about that; wet clothes and shit," I said in a shaking voice, looking up at him quietly.

He smiled a gorgeous, full smile. "Yeah, I can see that. I'd lend you my clothes, but they're soaked…and freezing…as well…so, I guess we'll have to stay wet then…"

"Well…" I clapped together, "we could always use body heat!"

Heh. Heh. I didn't really just say that, did I? Damn it, I'm just way too horny to function at the moment.

"Yeah, if that's alright with you," Rin said, walking up so close that I had to look up to see his face. Hey, alright! Let's do this, maestro! I want to fuck! I WANT to FUCK! PLEASE?

"Oh, but only if it's alright with you!" I said, against every urge in my VERY turned-on body.

"It is, don't worry," he said, laughing nervously. My breath hitched as his arm wrapped slowly around me. Oh my…god…this is really happening, isn't it? This isn't a dream, right?

"Um…should we sit down?" he suggested. He was shaking too, either out of coldness or nervousness. I hoped it was the former, but I wouldn't blame him for being nervous of me since I've been a right bitch to him his whole life.

"Sure." Holding me against his sopping wet jacket, we slowly descended our asses to the rock I'd just been sitting on. A crash of thunder echoed throughout the area, the rapid patter of rain nicely filling up the silence it left behind. He squeezed me gently (I barely restrained myself from moaning).

"I…don't think this is helping," he said, taking off his jacket.

"Yeah, we might…need more…body available for the body heat plan to work properly," I said, giggling like a drunken baby elephant. I have problems. I'm a fucking moron.

"You're probably right," Rin said, beginning to lift off his shirt, but pausing to say, "this is only to stay warm, okay?"

I nodded with closed eyes and a smile. As I thought, he doesn't seem to like me physically. Well…at least now I can use the excuse to snuggle up with him!

As soon as he removed his shirt, I wrapped both arms around his firm, bare chest and pressed up to him as much as possible. It felt good to be able to show him affection for once.

I do hope he starts to like me soon, though, because I REALLY want to fuck as soon as possible.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Oh, self…what have you gotten yourself into now? No more late nights out drinking for you!

I'd forgotten that Kaede was ONLY wearing her very thin cotton pajamas – really just a yellow mini tank top and a pair of extremely tight orange boxers. And, being that they're sopping wet, they're completely transparent. And I'm trying as hard as possible not to look.

Kaede…I don't think she would ever forgive me if I switched to Itsuki mode here. It IS hard to share this rock, though…it's not big enough for both of us. Maybe…just maybe…I could invite her to sit on my lap?

No! No! Bad Rin! Stop it! You know you'll just get hard if that happens! And that'll lead you to many places you don't want to go!

So I found myself just holding her…gorgeous, dripping wet, dainty body…as she shivered and pressed up to me. Clearly I should have picked a bridge with bigger rocks underneath.

"How about your pants?" Kaede said, her pupils pulsating as she looked at me (never a good sign).

"Uh…wh-what about them?" I said, looking at her a bit warily.

"Oh, n-nothing, forget I said anything, heh! HA! Heh-hah! I like to laugh." Kaede said, letting go of me and rapidly tapping her thighs. Wow. I've never seen her so…vulnerable. It's kind of entrancing, in a way.

"Kaede-chan…" I said.

Her head whipped around to me, her face betraying her disturbed mental state. "What is it?"

Well, at least she's trying. I won't let her down. I'll…wait…I smell…

Pheromones? Kaede's? That means…

Ah-ha, then it should be safe…I hope…may gods massacre me in my sleep if this turns out to be a bad idea.

"You know," I said, combing my hair with my hand nervously, "this rock's pretty small…"

"Oh, i-i-i-i-if you want me to g-get off, I can…"

"You could, but I have another solution," I said, inwardly cringing at my potential foolishness.

"Oh…what?" she looks so fragile. I hope this helps! Her scent shouldn't lie, right?

"Um, here," I said, picking her up gently with both arms and lifting her up onto my lap, turning her in midair so she was facing me.

"Wha…WHAT?" she gaped as I plopped her very wet ass onto my crotch…which I was trying my damnedest to keep under control.

"Was that a bad idea?" I said wincing.

"NO!" she yelled, wrapping her arms quickly around me. "Thank you, it's much…better this way…"

I exhaled in relief, hugging her extremely sexually-curved body close to mine. "Great! I'm glad!"

She sighed in my ear. "Rin-kun…let's stay like this, okay…please, never let go of me."

"I won't, I promise," I said.

She pulled her head back so that her entire face was grazing mine, moving around her crotch as she did, which felt…WAY too good to be true.

"Kaede-chan," I said, my lips brushing hers.

"What you said before was true, right?" she whispered. "That you endured everything for…me?"

"Yes. And I'd do it again for you!"

Kaede made a sound that seemed like a cross between a moan and a whimper before planting her loose lips on mine, holding them there in a chaste, simple kiss! Holy crap!

Scarcely able to believe this was happening, I pulled her to me and held her even more tightly as we kissed, both our hearts beating irregularly.

As soon as she pulled away, I went in for another one, this time allowing my tongue to tap her lips for entrance. She immediately reciprocated, and our tongues wrestled curiously and passionately. Kaede's breath was what I was breathing…amazing!

Suddenly, I felt a pressing matter appear in the back of my mind. I didn't come out here with her to make out, we needed to talk! This can't go on while we still haven't discussed things!

Alright, I can do this! I'll be strong!

I removed my tongue from her quietly. She exhaled her tangy, addictive breath in my face and started wiggling her crotch flirtatiously on top of mine.

Kaede…stop being so sexy!

"Hey, listen," I said, patting her on her thigh.

She smiled and looked around. "All I hear is rain!"

"Um…I wanted to talk about you with some things…IMEAN, talk with you about some things, heh."

"Fuck, I was afraid of that," she said, her voice still playful, but her face quickly losing all of its brevity.

Let's see…how should I start?

"Well, I guess, first of all, the house is safe…everyone else left when I did. So, um…we'll have it to ourselves!"

"Oh, good, I like it when it's like that," she said, massaging the back of my neck.

"Yeah, it's nice," I agreed. "And both Primula and Sia will be fine," I said, carefully watching her reaction.

She stared coolly into my eyes. "I'm glad," she said, not especially convincingly.

I sighed. I'm not sure if I really was making out with the Kaede I like, or if was just her usual freaky self.

"Look…please don't take this the wrong way,"

"I'll try my best," Kaede said in a low voice.

"But let's make a pact, okay?"

She raised an eyebrow at me in confusion, as she readjusted herself on my lap. "Do what?

Another bolt of lightning hit, illuminating the area.

"In order for, um…this…to work, I think we both need to give something up. Do you…follow what I'm saying?"

"Nope!" Kaede said, laughing nervously. "Why do we need to give shit up?"

I ran my fingers through her wet hair, causing us both to blush. "For several reasons…but, I mean, think about it, you'll not be able to trust me if I don't call off the wedding with the other girls, right?"

Kaede nodded decisively. "Right, you probably should…"

"And you can't expect me to trust you if you continue torturing me or generally mistreating people in general, can you?"

"Well yeah! Oh! And I just want to say that I'm really, really, really sorry about all that!"

"Kaede-chan…I can't forgive you that easily, you know," I said carefully. I still had no clue what I was doing.

"Oh," she looked down momentarily, "But Rin-kun, I can't just be completely nice to everyone all the time – that's ridiculous!"

"Yeah, I don't mean like, petty things, or being negative, or even making mean comments…but, you know…I think you know that there are, um, certain lines that you, uh…shouldn't cross?"

She nodded slowly, looking into my eyes. "Alright, I'm following you."

"See, so we'll trust each other more if we swear these things off, and it proves that both of us thinks the other person is more important than those things."

"Right! I get it!"

"So, um…do we have a deal, then?" I asked.

"Uh-huh," she agreed, pulling my head to hers and slithering her tongue into my lips.

We both moaned together as we succumbed to the passion of the kiss, surrounded by rain and darkness everywhere.

* * *

_(Kaede's Point of View)_

I closed the door behind us as we returned to my house. Thank god for the warmth!

I stretched and yawned. "I am SO sleepy, how bout you?"

Wait a second, wait a second…beds…Rin…and me…empty house…warmth...nakedness…

I'm pretty sure that if you add all those up, what you get is sex!

"Well, I'm…tired but I don't know if I can sleep yet." Rin said, rubbing his eyes. "I just feel really bad about…everything…"

Aww, he's so freaking adorable. I want him. NOW!

Besides that, though, I didn't think I'd properly explained my feelings to him, yet. I at least owed him that, didn't I?

"Rin-kun," I said, walking delicately towards him.

"What?"

"I just wanted to say that…" I took a deep breath. "I've never been in love before, so I'm not EXACTLY sure, but…" I had his full attention now. A cute smile was creeping on his face. "I think I'm in love with you." My heart is fluttering like a butterfly on PCP! Holy shit! I feel great though. It's strangely soothing to get that off my chest.

"Aww, Kaede-chan," he said, walking over and pulling me into another warm, passionate hug. I can only imagine how long he must have wanted to do that. I am pretty fucking desirable, after all!

After we parted, he said, "Well, I guess…I'm off to bed, then!"

"Ah, okay, see you in the morning!" I said, waving.

HOLD UP!

If there's ever been a night I wanted to sleep with someone, it's this one right now. But I'm not sure…it's probably too soon for Rin…he doesn't even seem to be that sexually attracted to me. Damn it, what should I do? I could pull the "I'm cold!" card or the "I'm miserable!" card, or even the "I have scary dreams of having to suck rotten penis!" card, but I'm pretty sure he'd see through all those. He's a sharp one, that Rin.

So, I followed him up the stairs, both of us chuckling awkwardly in the dark for no obvious reason. When we reached the fork in the hall, I turned to him, running through my options one last time.

"Well, have a great sleep, Kaede-chan," he said, leaning in and surprising me with a kiss. "I know I won't!"

For all my wit and genius and sexiness, I wasn't able to come up with any viable courses of action to get him into my pants, so I just stood there, looking at him blankly as he went into his room.

"I won't, either," I murmured, turning to go into mine.

I gasped as soon as I opened the door, at first thinking there was someone there, when it was actually just Primula's cross. I groaned and closed the door behind me looking sadly around me. I must have been really fucking messed up to have done all that stuff to an innocent little girl…

I noticed that a bunch of signs had been posted on my walls, with messages from the people who resuscitated Primula after I left, no doubt. All of them had hate messages written to me that were probably quite true.

Let's see, here's one from Sia:

"Hey Kaede-chan, I normally try not to judge people,  
But I think you're just a terrible person,  
And I really think it was a mistake for your mother to give birth to you.  
See you at school tomorrow! Don't worry about Primu-chan, okay?"

Well…okay.

Here's a very large one from Nerine, the writing getting more crazed the more it goes on:

"DIE! I hate you! You are a disease, a walking corpse, forever cursed to live a life of shame and depravity.  
I hope nothing ever works out for you, ever, for all you've done to Rin-kun.  
If I had it my way, you would be stabbed a thousand times and left to bleed to death on a cross in front of the whole school.  
And if I ever see you again, you can be sure that I won't hesitate to rip your fucking head off!  
Please, have a good sleep, your fucking highness!"

The others had left similar responses.

I sighed and collapsed face-first in bed, hugging my pillow to myself in shame and sorrow.

I don't know if I've ever been so hated in all my life…I can't stop shaking…

…I can't stay in here.

I walked out the door with my pillow and blankets, only briefly pausing to consider asking Rin if I could sleep with him. I was too scared to hear an answer I didn't want to hear, and so headed downstairs to try to sleep on the couch.

"Rin-kun…help…please…" I whispered, wrapping my blankets frustratedly around me.

* * *

**A/N**: Ta-da! Thanks for reading! :)

As always, I would be thrilled to hear your thoughts, so please write a review if the mood strikes you.

And if things haven't worked out to your liking, well…please stay tuned, is all I will say.

See you next time!

Koshking777


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: ** Hey all, thanks for the reviews, it made me quite happy to know that there's still an interest in this fic! This one took a little longer than I wanted, but, err…it's here now! XD

This is probably one of my favorite chapters so far. Please enjoy, although be warned that there is a LEMON in the middle of the story. So watch yourself! =)

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 13**

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Instead of sleeping, I spent the night tossing and turning, thinking about my decision. I wonder if all hard choices in life require some kind of emotional disconnection, because I can't help but acknowledge that, however much I do love Kaede, and I do, I also genuinely have romantic feelings for all the others…and I have definitely hinted that I'd get together with them, too.

Even though I've already made a decision, and reasoned through it with Kaede, who really was and is my first love…why do I still feel so tortured? I wish I could be a cold, heartless bastard who just enjoys the spoils of my choice, and that's what Kaede is probably expecting, and needing.

I guess the bottom line is, I'll never be completely satisfied with either choice, due to the harm it causes the other side. So I have to force myself to not care for all these other beautiful perfect women that care about me more than I could ever possibly understand.

Growling as I stretched, I stared emptily at my closet for a few minutes before getting up and dragging myself to the bathroom.

I did it, didn't I? The choosing Kaede part? I didn't just dream it, I don't think. Her mom and my parents probably would have wanted me to take care of her, and to give her the love she needs to heal, and only I can do that.

And if she wants that same love, then I don't really have a choice, do I? She is the one I'm forced to go for…That, and she's really adorable. When she's behaving, of course.

I groaned and opened the bathroom door, revealing Kaede, who was just stepping into the shower. That woke me up. I didn't want to look, but her body was so beautiful it clung to my eyes like a towel to damp skin.

Phenomenal curves, glowing white skin – adorable might be a massive understatement about her!

"Umm!" Kaede said, stopping in mid-step. Pitch black rings lay beneath her eyes.

I quickly squaked out, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" and slammed the door shut, leaning against it with wide eyes. Holy. Shit.

Why am I so scared? I'm shaking like crazy, but if she honors our deal, then she can't really do anything to me, right?

Well, maybe so, but I still don't really want to test it.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

"No, it's fi-" was all I was able to get out before my murderer-lover jumped out and slammed the door.

Jesus Christ, the daughter of Satan! That was a perfect chance right there! I headbutted the dull edge of the glass shower door. It's…probably definitely too soon to ask him to bathe with me, right? We've only been an item for, what? Five hours?

I sighed and played with myself. It's been over a week since I've been fucked, and I am just now realizing I've subconsciously wanted Rin to ravage me far longer than that. At least now he's seen me completely naked, which is a plus. He probably also saw the scar that desecrates my tit, which is a huge minus.

Mission: Get Rin-kun Between My Thighs isn't looking up so far.

At least I know he loves me, though, which is nice; I've never had anything like that before. And I certainly don't deserve it.

Definitely makes him good fodder for masturbation, at least.

Maybe he's still out there, waiting for me to get in the shower or something? I can just talk to him and see how things go!

Still touching myself, I gathered up my courage and said, "Uh, Rin-kun?"

"Y-yeah, Kaede-chan?"

Hey, he was still outside the door! I have no idea why, but who am I to complain?

Maybe…he DOES want to shower with me?

"W-was there something you wanted to talk about?" I said, looking around to see if there was something I could use to cover up my scar. Oh, the towel! Duh! I wrapped it around myself.

I felt the vibrations of his laugh buzz through the door. "What don't I want to talk about?" he said, a bit cryptically.

"You can come in, if you want – I'm decent."

"Oh! Okay, then!"

Ordinarily, I would have gone against my word, ripped off my towel and raped him, but I was pretty sure that would have violated our truce, so I just stood in one spot and smiled awkwardly as he came in, also smiling awkwardly.

I hate manners.

"W-well, good morning," he said, blushing a lot, and staring quite a bit at my towel for some reason. "You can just forget that happened, if you want."

"No thanks," I said, smiling.

"O-okay. Um…" He ruffled his hair. "I guess this is our first day as a couple, huh?"

I smirked. "Indeed it is. Is there anything special you wanted to do to commemorate the day?"

"Well, besides going around and dumping the other girls, like I said I would," he said with a completely fake smile, "I guess we could…well, I was maybe thinking I could teach you how to cook some easy dishes? And we could play a pretty fun game that Itsuki taught me."

"I would actually really like that," I said honestly, sitting on the sink and crossing my amazing legs. "But, um…do you, uh, need to take a shower?" MAN I'm aching for him right now. I stared him down for his reaction.

"Well, naturally, although the rain gave us a pretty good one yesterday," he said, returning my gaze with one of intense feeling and kindness. It was all I could do to keep myself from pouncing on him.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Man, this room is FULL of Kaede's pheromones. But I'm not actually sure if she wants me to do anything to her; sure, she'd probably be up for it now, but she might regret it later.

Still, we'd already made out once, so I figured I could at least give her a kiss. She looks so freaking adorable, I can hardly not.

I walked slowly up to her, my eyes locked with her tired but interested ones. "You don't mind if I…kiss you, do you?" I said, my voice sounding much weaker than I meant it to.

She shook her head forcefully, which was good, because I could hardly hold myself back any longer. I pulled her towel-clad body to me as she pulled my face in and began hungrily tangling her tongue with mine, her breath thick and husky.

I kissed back as passionately as I could without getting too aroused, caressing her bare neck and upper back as I did. I couldn't ignore the fact that her legs were straddling me, either, which was even more hot knowing that she was only wearing a towel.

Her naked self was practically attacking me, and I wanted to be attacked. If making my choice was the only way THIS could ever happen, then I think I'll be more than satisfied in the Kaede camp.

About thirty seconds later, with her lightly thrusting me with her crotch (I was completely hard now, of course), she slid off the sink and pushed me up against the wall with her full body, still kissing me. Damn, she's explosively horny!

I still wasn't exactly sure what to do, so I just kept kissing her and stroking her towel-clad body.

After a moment, still vaguely gyrating her hips into my helplessly sensitive ones, she pulled her lips away and looked in my eyes.

"I don't know if you noticed," she said, "but I was about to take a shower."

"As a matter of fact, I did actually notice that," I returned, trying to keep my sanity against the hypnotic rhythm of her pelvis against my swollen crotch. "And, um, if it's not too bold to say…"

"Oh? Go on!" she said, smiling widely. She started to loosen her towel around her extremely full and beautifully-shaped breasts, so I got momentarily distracted.

I eventually came around and said, "I actually came in here to take a shower as well. Maybe we can…find some sort of compromise?"

"Wow, that was very tastefully-suggested! I'm impressed!" she giggled, kissing me again. "I'd love to, Rin-kun. You…are asking to bathe with me, right?"

"Absolutely!" I was floored with giddy excitement, and a healthy dose of fear, but I tried my best to push that away. "Do you…do you want to actually take a bath, or just shower together?"

"Either one, really, but I think a bath would be perfect," she said, looking at me with eyes that had a good amount of ecstasy and ferocity. She sat down on the rim of the tub.

"Oh, I can run the water, if you want!"

"I'm more than capable," she said, stroking her thigh desperately as she turned on the faucet. "I owe you several more baths, I think."

"I hope so, Kaede-chan, I hope so." I smiled warmly and went over to massage her shoulders. This is gonna be so awesome!

As we were making out, I started to gently peel off her towel, her breath hitching as I did so, when suddenly I heard the doorbell ring.

Shit. Nerine and Sia, here to take me to school.

"Oh, GODS," I sighed, massaging my temples.

"Just leave them alone, it'll be alright. They'll go away eventually," Kaede said, holding her towel to her chest and looking at me with extremely sad-looking eyes.

"I…I…" I sighed, and lowered my head. "I want to just get in with you, and fuck you for hours and hours!"

"Great, so do I! What's the problem, then?"

"…It isn't right to do so, when I still haven't broken up with them. I mean, it's completely cheating their feelings, and besides, what if they were to come in? I don't think a locked door will stop them now that they know our secrets. It would look much, MUCH worse than it is if they walked in on us."

Kaede sighed and looked at the wall. "I…want to think you're right, Rin-kun, but…"

The doorbell rang again.

I bounced on my heels and ran my hand through her hair. "I love you, Kaede-chan, I promise. We'll have many, many more of these baths later. Trust me, I'll need them!"

"I know, I love you too, Rin-kun, but…I'm just getting a really bad feeling about this…"

I squeezed my eyes shut. I had to do this right. I'm already fucking everyone over so badly, I can't afford to make it worse! I hope, I hope to God and Satan and every celestial being in between, that Kaede doesn't get ferociously mad about this while I'm gone. But I have to do this…the princesses have left me no choice!

"I'll be back, my one true love," I said, wincing at how cheesy it sounded. I kissed her briefly on the lips and hugged her before running out the room.

"Please forgive me," I said after I closed the door.

Time to go do what I was hoping to put off for quite a bit longer.

I swung open the front door to reveal the two princesses at exactly the same time I realized I was still only wearing boxers. Oops.

Sia giggled while Nerine tried to turn away, but wasn't quite able to do so. "Morning, future husband! I see you've overslept…or were trying to put up a tent in your bed!" Sia said, looking between me and my enthusiasm with a blush and great interest.

"Are you not coming to school today?" Nerine said, "We understand if you don't want to; we actually thought you might not."

"Hey girls," I said, feeling a horrible conflict of emotions between happiness at seeing them and sadness for what I was going to have to do. "I…don't think I'm going today."

"I see, that's fine," Sia said with great warmth. "If you'd like, we can stay with you, at least for a couple hours!"

"And, you look like you might need some…um…assistance, am I correct?" Nerine said in a high voice, her active pheromones soaking the entire room.

Damn it, I want to marry them! If I was going to listen to my penis, that's definitely the way I'd go…okay, and my heart and my brain, too, but not my moral conscience. Even that's a close call, though…

This is going to suck more than getting ripped apart by sharks.

"I think that would be good, actually," I said, averting my gaze.

"Yay!" Sia said, coming in and looking around. "Should we use the couch, or go up to your room?"

"Well, why don't I go get dressed really fast…maybe you can wait at one of your places?" I suggested softly. "I'd, um, like to sit down and talk with you about everything…"

"Oooh, I don't like sitting down and talking. That's normally a bad thing, isn't it?" Nerine said to me nervously, delicately holding my hand.

"Oh, of course not! Rin-kun wouldn't do something like that! Right?" Sia said, dancing back over to me, her face bright and beautiful.

I want to comfort Nerine…and be as carefree as Sia…but…I have to destroy everything they've worked so hard to forge with me.

I have to be the enemy.

This is what it means…to finally act, to make a choice.

…Goddammit.

"It is bad, isn't it?" Nerine said after a moment.

"I wish it wasn't bad news," I said, "but…" I left it hanging, not wanting to talk about it anymore until we had assembled together to do it.

"Oh!" they both said. A deep, horrifying silence filled the room, putting me on edge. "W-well, at least we can be ready for it now," Sia said, using what was left of her bluster to try to lighten the atmosphere, "c-come on, Nerine-chan, let's go to your place; it's much more comfortable."

"Wait, stop," Nerine said, halting her cousin. She turned to me and looked at me with sad, emotional eyes. "Why? Please tell me it's not what I think it is…"

"Just…just go…I'll tell you soon enough," I said, averting my eyes.

"Don't keep us long!" Sia said in a shaky voice. It sounded much more like a threat than she probably intended.

I walked away, up to the stairs, hearing them close the door as they left. I had begun a process that I had thought might be impossible. I would see this through.

"You're strong, Rin-kun." I jumped as I turned the corner, finding Kaede standing there eavesdropping, still just in a towel. "I didn't realize before how hard this would be for you…"

I put my hand on her delicate shoulder and sighed in exhaustion. "I'm not all that strong. If I had been, I wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place. I should have just made a choice a month ago, instead of stringing everyone along like a selfish bastard."

"Maybe," Kaede murmured, and I continued my ascent of the stairs. "But…who's to say that marrying all of them isn't the right thing to do?" I turned to look at her in shock. "These are weird circumstances, obviously."

I walked back down. "Please don't say that, Kaede-chan. I'm THIS close to losing my resolve! I do want to be with you, but you and I both know that they are also the object of my desire. And I think that you are the right choice, but I'm much more tempted to acquiesce to them than I'm comfortable with."

"Rin-kun, I know what they all mean to you, and I also know how horrible this will be for you, so…maybe…maybe I could be part of your harem, too?"

I stared at her. The idea had crossed my mind, but I didn't think it would be something that any of us would seriously consider, let alone Kaede. "Are you…okay with that?" I asked.

"Not really, no."

"Then why would you suggest it?"

"For you, of course. I might not be as happy, but I know it would please you the most."

Wow. She's like a completely different person! "You really have changed," I said, looking at her in awe. I wrapped her up in a tight hug. "Thanks for thinking of me."

"I always think of you," Kaede said, pressing herself up against me. "Even when I hated you, you were all I could think about."

I kissed her again. "I'm…doubtful the other girls will go for it, but I would be thrilled to marry you. I'll bring it up to them, alright?"

"Alright."

I ran upstairs to make up for lost time while I threw on my school uniform. As I ran back out, I accidentally collided with Kaede, my arm pushing past her towel-bound breasts.

"Oops," I said, pausing and smiling to her.

"Heh, boobs," Kaede muttered. "Um, so…I'll wait to bathe until you get back, alright?"

"I look forward to it more than I've ever looked forward to anything before!" I said, giving her one last brief kiss before heading out and making my way over to Nerine's house.

My mood quickly fell to a churning self-hatred as I ascended her steps. The more I thought about Kaede's suggestion the more I thought it sounded like an unforgivably self-centered move. They would see through it immediately; instead of me marrying all of them, it would basically be saying that I wouldn't be happy marrying any number of them unless Kaede were one of that number, which, damn me to hell, is actually the despicable truth. Apparently, I feel that all three of them, Sia, Nerine, and Mayumi, are worthless, that my love for them is surface-deep when compared to my feelings for Kaede. I don't think it's true, but why do I feel like there's more truth there than I'd like to admit?

DAMN I'm a terrible person!

My heart pounded as I knocked twice on the metallic door. I winced when I heard Nerine's lovely "Come in" respond.

I am shit. I don't deserve their love. I deserve to crawl in a hole and die.

I walked in to see the two of them sitting on a couch, changed out of their school uniforms into summer outfits that were beyond gorgeous – Nerine in a shimmering, thin mini-dress and Sia in an adorable mini-skirt and matching tank top.

I made a sickening attempt at a smile, but quickly withdrew it.

"Come on and sit here, Rin-kun," Sia said, patting the small space between them. "You don't need to be uncomfortable around us!"

"I'm sorry for saying overdramatic things, Rin-kun, please feel free to say whatever you like. We are yours forever, after all," Nerine said, bowing her head slightly and looking at me with doe-like eyes. "I'm sorry if I offended you!"

"Oh, no, no, of course not!" I said hurriedly, sitting down between them. "You could never offend me." I could feel my fear of women creeping back, though; both of their bodies were pretty much pressed up to me, their sacred breasts and all.

"So, our marriage hits it first rough patch, huh?" Sia said, leaning on my shoulder and lightly massaging my thigh, her hand just barely grazing my penis with each stroke. "Don't worry, we're absolutely committed to anything and everything you could possibly desire of us."

"We can work it out," Nerine said intently but not forcefully, squeezing my hand between the two of hers. "And, don't worry, my dad is with Sia's, so the three of us have the house to ourselves."

"That's good. I didn't want Kaede-chan or anyone else to eavesdrop, which is why I suggested we go here." I said truthfully, testing the waters.

They both gave each other a brief look. "That's good, we wouldn't want her intruding," Sia said simply.

"Alright…well, to start with, how is Primu-chan's recovery going?" Hooray for postponing the inevitable.

"Not that bad, actually, most of her skin has healed. Daddy says she should be able to walk in three days," Sia said, confidently but gravely. It was clear that she hadn't forgotten Kaede's terrible act. I hadn't either, of course, but Sia wasn't childhood friends with the perpetrator.

"That's a relief." The girls nodded in agreement and resituated themselves so that they were more laying against me than sitting, their unbelievably beautiful bodies taut against me. It was apparent to me now that neither was wearing a bra.

Damn it, I'm getting horny. Please be honorable, self, just this once!

I leaned forward and bowed my head. "Okay, here goes: I'm…in love with Kaede-chan." I did it! I actually motherfucking did it! Now I just have to experience the fallout and/or potential murder! Hooray! I'm a pathetic loser!

"Whoa, are you serious?" Nerine gasped, leaning forward and looking at me in disbelief.

"HOW?" Sia said, gripping me around my torso.

"I don't want to be…I hate everything she's done, but she's, unfortunately, very precious to me, and I don't want to see her mental condition get worse."

"Oh, it's back to that again?" Nerine said softly, gently caressing my back. "Don't worry about her, it's obvious that she can take care of herself."

Sia nodded very aggressively. "You deserve better, anyway. You have the kind of virtue and stomach for pain and love that most people only hear about in myths." She shook my shoulders in excitement. "Rin-kun, you're more worthy of the title 'God' than most men of my race! Who cares about the fate of one horrible, sick woman that you used to be friends with? She's lower than trash, and only fit to be your toilet!"

"I know, and thank you for everything you said, although I deserve about none of it. The thing is, though, here's what happened: last night, after everyone left but me, Sakura, and Kaede, I lied to Kaede and told her I was in love with her, just to give her one last chance before I abandoned her forever. And, it's weird as hell, but ever since then, she's completely changed! She's actually thinking about people besides herself for the first time in like ten years!"

I got up and turned to them as I continued trying to explain. "I think that the way she's behaving now is actually her repressed, good self from back when she was a kid, you see? And THAT part of her has only returned because she thinks I love her!"

"I see. And do you?" Sia asked.

"Yes! I've…come to, now that I recognize her again. But, more importantly, I think the longer I stay with her, the more she'll be able to heal mentally. I…"

"No, Rin-kun…" Nerine moaned, laying her face in her hands.

"W-what?"

"She's clearly manipulating you," Sia said.

"No she's…"

"That's what she does, she's a heartless manipulator!" Nerine said. "You've been tricked by her before, haven't you?"

"I guess…you have a point," I said, looking away.

"And that's not even considering the horrible, unforgiveable crimes she's done to you over the years, especially with Primu-chan last night. How can you possibly love someone like that?"

"I don't think that the person who did those things is Kaede, really," I said, feeling very sad for some reason.

"And five hours is a pretty unimpressive amount of time to fall in love with someone," Nerine added. "We've already talked about this before, too, last night, remember? There's nothing for you in her, just continuous loss and disappointment."

"Things have changed. I'm not ready to give up while there's still hope left for her!"

"Things will NEVER change with her!" Sia said, standing up and beginning to sound a little more angry. "She'll never care about anyone more than herself!"

"And the two of you AREN'T caring just for yourselves?" I said, glaring at the two of them. "Am I the only one here capable of being selfless?"

"Hey, why are you getting mad at me, Rin-kun?" Nerine said, hurt.

"Yeah, and what was that supposed to mean?" Sia said, indignant.

"You're siding with her, aren't you?" I asked Nerine. "And you know exactly what I mean! Neither of you will be happy unless you have me to yourselves, Kaede-chan might never think of anyone but herself, but at least I'll be thinking of her, and able to catch her when she falls!"

Both of them grew gravely quiet. I had long crossed the line, and I knew it. But there had been no doubt that this was going to go badly.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking away.

"I'm only siding with her because I want to marry you, Rin-kun," Nerine said, sounding like she was nearing tears.

"Rin-kun, we're not being selfish; we're only thinking of you." Sia said. "Please…don't throw us away for a choice that will never give you happiness in the long run."

"Thank you, both of you; you're much more kind to me than I deserve." I raised my head and looked to both of them, wincing before I spoke. "Well, this might sound like a terribly sick and twisted idea, but would either of you be willing to add Kaede-chan to the marriage? She's already assented to the idea."

"Huh…" Sia said, sharing a glance with Nerine as they pondered the idea.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

I wandered around the kitchen, went back into the family room and wrung my hands there, then locked myself in the closet and cried, then went to my bed and masturbated about Rin raping me up the ass, and then did the entire process again.

I don't want to be jealous, and I certainly don't want to mistrust Rin's word after he's promised so much to me, but I can't help but worry. Those two will likely seduce him and make much better love to him than I ever could, and then, even if he does dump them, they're all he'll ever be able to think about whenever he's fucking my flawed, ugly human body afterwards.

I sighed and opened a cookbook out of boredom and angst. Perhaps I could surprise him by learning something before he started teaching me. After being confused for a good ten seconds, I closed it and slammed my head against its cover. Why surprise him with that when I can just surprise him by sucking his dick! I'm much better at that, and it would probably taste better anyway.

Yeah, that's a great idea! As soon as he opens the door, I'll reward him for his efforts by drinking his semen! I giggled at my brilliance and thought about what I should wear. I was still in my towel, and he seemed to like that, but who likes sameness? I know I don't! There's gotta be something else I can wear that'll elicit a similar horniness from him.

As I went back up to my room and began rooting through my various sex clothes, I heard the doorbell and shot straight up with enthusiasm. "COMING!" I yelled as loud as possible before dropping my towel, draping on a completely transparent black robe, and stampeding down the stairs.

"Welcome home!" I cried in happiness, swinging open the door. Who I saw there quickly replaced all my good feelings with cold fear and confusion.

"Man, what the fuck or some shit!" Bark said, sniffing loudly and stepping through the door. "Now, like, now this is what I fucking call a warm welcome, am I right? hhhHHHHAAAAH! What I mean to say is, I like the way your fucking titties look through you robe, hhhHHHHAAAAH!"

"B-BARK?" I asked in complete shock, backing away quickly. "What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you were dead!"

"Well, I guess you thought wrong or some shit, you know what I'm saying? hhhHHHHAAAAH!" He undid his belt and zipper and wiggled out of his pants, closing the door behind him. "That's, I mean, like, that's why I'm always, like 'Women shouldn't talk or some shit,' because, uh…you're a dumb bitch! hhhHHHHAAAAH!"

"Bark-kun," I said, closing my eyes and trying to quickly think where the nearest weapon was. Oh, yes! The yanagiba! I should be able to grab it easily enough! "I'm going to give you one chance to walk away, okay?"

"See, like, the thing is, is that, I've got a fucking dick full of semen here, and I intend to smash it through all your orifices for several hours or some shit. That's the thing!" He sniffed again loudly wiping some flecks of leftover cocaine off his nostrils.

I held up my finger and looked at him sternly. "THIS is your chance, Bark. ONE. Back away, walk through that door, and never come back!"

He tossed his balls a little bit before taking off his boxers, displaying the oversized genitals that used to be my only reason for ever tolerating him. "Kaede-chan, you do me wrong…in my dong! That rhymes, doesn't it! Fuck! I'm fucking the shit or some shit, you know what I'm saying? Fuck it! hhhHHHHAAAAH!" He stroked his shaft, which had already begun hardening as I felt his eyes violate my robe at length. "You're so fucking sexy, Kaede-chan, I'm just gonna do you a favor and let you fuck me for free! How's that sound, ha-HAAA, you've just won a new car!"

"Alright," I said, trying not to display any fear or arousal as I went to grab the weapon out of the knife block. A pocketed explosion of wind erupted right in front of me, though, in the middle of my fucking kitchen, sending me flipping through the air, my head colliding on the wood floor with a *Chunk* sound.

I was well aware that my robe had flipped up, exposing my entire body to him, but I was way too dazed to do anything.

"Sorry about that, slut, but, you know, like, there's only one reason why the devil put you on this planet, and that was to fuck. You know this, and I know this, so why fight it?" he said, dropping down and using his fingers to stimulate my crotch in all the right places. "You're a fucking slut of a woman, that's all you'll ever be – just a place for me to put my cock when it needs parkin'! hhhHHHHAAAAH!"

His treatment of my pussy was WAY too experienced not to make me wake straight up. I looked up at him and kicked him as hard as I could with both feet…which only succeeded in nudging him a bit off me.

Oh well!

I got up and ran for the stairs, mistaking them for the front door in my dizziness. A bright flash filled the room, I felt a huge amount of heat behind me, and then I crashed forward again, onto the stairs, this time my back searing with the pain of being burnt.

"There we go! Fire spell! That's what I'm fucking talking about! I love the way your ass looks when you're helpless, hhhHHHHAAAAH! Matter of fact, I think I'm going to walk up there and give you a little of what I like to call the ol' buttsex treatment, sound good? Sounds great to me, or some shit!"

I seethed and tried to push myself off the ground.

"That's a fantastic position right there," Bark said from right behind me, immediately forcing his enormous monster inside my asshole and beginning to fuck it.

I cried out…it was too rough…but I couldn't lie, I had been desiring sex for a long time. It felt amazing…but I wanted it with Rin-kun.

This has to stop, I'm not going to betray my beloved Rin-kun!

"Bark-kun…why are you doing this?" I asked in as weak a voice as I could, hoping to appeal to his dominating side.

"Besides the fact that you've got a fine-as-fuck asshole? hhhHHHHAAAAH!" He continued to pound me aggressively, my flesh feeling like it was constantly ripping, bleeding. Despite all my misgivings, I hissed as I came – hard. "I actually got instructions! A letter in the mail, or some shit!"

"Wh-what? Oh god, I can't STAND it!" I cried out and arched my back. So much pain…SOOO much penis inside me. I can't help it…I'm starting to drool.

"I know, right? Not a bad mission, for either of us! You fucking little slut! All Madam Moonbite said on her note is for me to fuck you for four hours straight! That's…"

"WHAT? Madam…GHHHHAAAAAH?" I came again, this time his dick filling my ass with tons and tons of hot semen.

"That's what the letter was signed as, or some shit! I do stuff for her for money, but this time I'm getting paid twice – I'm reunited with you again, honey-butt!"

"I…I…I…hate you…" I said, tears filling my eyes even as my stupid crotch orgasmed.

"That's not what your asshole says!" Bark suddenly stood up, spun me around and crammed his cock into my crotch. Our wet genitals wrapped around each other as tightly as the pleasure wrapped around my diseased brain.

"OHHHH GODDD," I cried, looking anywhere but him as he carried me up the stairs as he continued fucking my crotch. "H-help! RIN-KUN! HELP!"

"Ain't no one else here but me – me and my cock, that is, hhhHHHHAAAAH!" Bark chuckled as he took me up to my bedroom to continue raping me.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

"I'm going to say 'no,' I think," Sia said, looking at me with narrow eyes.

I sighed and looked to Nerine hopefully.

"I don't think it's sick and twisted, Rin-kun; I know you're only offering this so we can still have a chance to be with you. But, the marriage we've planned…we're not all just getting married to you, we're getting married to each other as well, even if the girls will never have sex."

"Exactly!" Sia said. "It does imply that we all have to implicitly trust each other, like partners would, and I don't EVER see myself trusting Kaede-chan."

"Yeah, I know," I said, feeling down. It's really just down to them or Kaede, and I already know I've made my choice.

"So…what's it going to be, then?" Sia said, her voice sounding apprehensive.

I looked at her sadly. "I don't want it to be this way, but…I'm cancelling the marriage agree-" I was cut off as Sia slapped me across the mouth.

Tears filled her eyes as she looked at me. "You've betrayed me. All this time you've been telling me I was the one for you."

"Sia-chan…" I looked over at Nerine, but Sia pulled my face back to herself.

"When I first found out about all this craziness, I never thought that you would pick me. But then you started leading me on, and have kept doing so for this ENTIRE time! Letting me always call you my future husband? Kissing me? Saying you loved me more than anyone else?" She stamped once on the ground. "I would have left a LONG, LONG time ago, if it wasn't for those things!"

"I…I…"

"I feel sorry for you, because you're weak stupid child, unable to ever make any sort of decision, and, now that you've made one, you can't see that it's as stupid as your empty brain!" Sia said to my face in a voice laced with anger.

"Look, like I said, I…"

"I've healed you all those times! You'd be dead if not for me! And you're going to marry the bitch that DID all that to you? How do you expect that to make me feel? Are you TRYING to spit in my face? Go on, spit in it!"

"I could never…"

"SPIT. IN. IT. Show me you hate me, don't pretend that you even care about me one tiny bit!"

"SIA-CHAN!" Nerine yelled, grabbing her and pulling her off me. Sia glared at her cousin and shook herself free, but didn't approach again.

I was completely at a loss for words. "Everything you said is true, Sia-chan…except the last part – I do care about you."

"Bullshit."

"I've been trying to tell you, I am nothing better than a selfish sack of shit-"

"Well, you were right."

"…that doesn't deserve you."

"No you don't."

I bowed my head and tried not to start crying. I felt utterly miserable "I hope you find a husband that can give you the love I always wanted to but failed to give you."

"Thank you, Rin-kun," Sia said, warmth finally returning to her voice. "This will be the last time we ever see each other."

I looked up in surprise. Nerine looked caught off guard, too. "Wh-where are you going?"

"Back to the palace, of course. Without you, there's no reason for me to even be in this realm," Sia said. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Gods, I'm an idiot. I never would have wanted this to be your parting interaction with me."

"It's my fault, Sia-chan."

"I'm just so disappointed." Sia looked away from the two of us, arms folded tightly against her breasts. Within seconds, she turned completely away and stared at the corner, her shoulders shaking intermittently.

I turned to Nerine and struggled to form a question. "D-do you have anything you'd like to say?"

"No, not really," she said, although she smiled a little. "I do disagree with most of what Sia said, though."

I chuckled, despite my throat being extremely dry. "That's good."

"But are you sure – absolutely positive – that you've made the right choice?"

"I wish, more than anything, that I could make the wrong choice in this case, my dearest Princess," I said, bowing my head to her.

"Then, how do you know you're turning down the wrong one, if your feelings tell you so much otherwise?"

"I can't explain it any more than I already have," I said. "Kaede-chan is my childhood friend, and I will always love her more than is appropriate while I'm married to someone else, even if that someone is as completely mind-bogglingly amazing as you two."

"I see…I'm sorry it ended this way, too, Rin-kun. I did tell you that I saw this coming, though, remember, in the cone?"

"Yes," I said.

"Called it!" she joked weakly, and we both laughed uncomfortably. She looked briefly at Sia's petrified back before saying, "Well, what would you say to sleeping with the two of us one time; our last chance before our marriage agreement is annulled?"

Sia turned around and looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. "I would like that, very much," she said, "at least, then, I'd leave you with a better impression of me."

"I know we've wanted to have a threesome between us for a long, long time," Nerine said while Sia cleared her throat in apparent embarrassment.

"I'm tempted…but, I don't think it's the right thing to do. It would be violating Kaede-chan's trust, unfortunately."

Both girls' faces grew immediately much more sour. "Well, I'll never see you again, then," Sia said. "Have fun fucking the devil!" She stalked off.

I ran to catch up and hugged her around the waist. "I'm sorry, Sia-chan," I whispered in her ear. "I do love you, and always have, from the very first time I saw you."

She kicked me in the knee and hopped out of my arms. "Don't touch me, peasant!" she scoffed, striding out the door – out of my life forever.

I stared after her, feeling quite disturbed. Nerine, however, came forward and enveloped me in a soft, warm hug. "Goodbye, Rin-kun…"

"Wha-? You're leaving, too?"

"Yes." She leaned forward, gave me one last, chaste kiss on the lips, and walked away to her room, a cloud of shadow seeming to follow her hunched form. "Feel free to let yourself out."

"Okay," I barely got out before she closed the door tightly behind her as she got to her room.

That…probably could have gone better.

At least the worst experience of my life is over!

Oh, damn…I still have Mayumi to go! Well…my heart's way too heavy to deal with that right now, so I'll just go home and cut myself or something.

At least I have Kaede! And that bath, hopefully! I long for SOME kind of loving interaction, in any form whatsoever!

I walked stately back to the front door, feeling all kinds of terrible about myself. I immediately noticed something was strange, though. I couldn't place it, but, even without opening the door, I could tell something was…off.

I quickly went inside and looked around. The place smelled like sex, definitely of the anal variety. Strange, since no one was here…

Suddenly, I became aware of what that annoying high-pitched sound from upstairs actually was – screams.

Bugs…there's bugs crawling on the semen-covered couches.

Sex screams.

Why are there so many bugs on the countertop? We should have someone take a look at that!

KAEDE'S sex screams.

Everything turned a dull grey-ish red, and my vision began to contort and get hazy. The screams magnified in volume until all I could hear was Kaede screaming "Yes! Yes! YES!"

That…worthless…backstabbing…manipulative…lying…WHORE!

My whole body shaking, I ran to the bathroom and closed the door as I vomited in the sink from my pounding increase in hostility. A sound of heavy drumbeats joined in the chorus of Kaede's resounding ecstasy that resonated through my entire body like a pint of poison.

I vomited, cursing every part of Kaede's body I could think of at the time. After everything I did, everyone I've forsaken for her sake…Kaede took my last chance I gave her and put it through the meat grinder. Sia was right! She was only using me like a stupid, inbred, idiotic fuck! I should rip off my own nutsack for being such a witless fool.

It should have been dark in there. There weren't any lights on in the bathroom. But why could I see in the mirror so well? I giggled and drooled the rest of my vomit out. I laughed and laughed, in unison with the hideous old Cyclops woman staring back at me from inside the mirror.

The harder I laughed, the clearer the ancient hag got, until I felt she was actually in the bathroom with me. "Rin-kun…look below…the sink, my servant."

"Yes, of course!" I spat, giggling like crazy. I leaned down, really fucking excited to see what I'd find. A pair of black daggers, with funny little red symbols on the sides of the blade! I jumped back up and looked at the Cyclops woman again. "What do you want me to do with these, do you want me to kill Kaede-chan?"

"That…hhmmmmmmm….goes without saying, slave. Go murder her and her boyfriend in exactly the way I want."

"What was is that, your Highness?" I gasped, desperately wanting to be friends with the mysterious Cyclopean stranger.

"Do not question me, you insufferable FUCK!"

I whimpered and pissed myself a little. "Right away, your Highness."

As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, Kaede's euphoric screams of evil pleasure started to get drowned out in whispers coming from all corners of my mind. Commands, ideas, impulses…all of which involved ripping Kaede's sexy fucking body to shreds, HAHA!

I'll beat her cranium in, I'll rip out her eyes, bend her body until she's giving herself head and then stab her through with a spear, HAHA, slice and stab her in so many sexy parts that she'll bleed to death as she cries to me for mercy and help, HAHA! That piece of lying fucking shit! I'll fucking destroy her as she's in the act of sin itself!

I waded through the buzzing beetles that were rampaging down the stairs. Even though it was midday, to me, everything was a thick, goopy blood red. I'm gonna go up there and fucking rip that bitch apart in every single way I can!

There's the door. That's the door, isn't it? No, it's Primula's door, Primu-chan, the perfect little girl who that FUCKING WHORE CRUCIFIED? How could I not see it before? The only good Kaede is a Kaede with a fucking axe through her fucking face, HAHA!

Oh, of course! They're using the rooms with all the screams coming out of it, HAHA! I went over to it and listened while I pleasured myself, thinking of raping her corpse.

"Please…please…I can't…I can't…TAKE IT! GHAAAAAA! IT'S…it's tooooo…toooo…fucking GOOD! Nnnnng, NoooooooooooOOO!"

I laughed after semen gushed out onto my fingers, wiped it off on my testicles for the moment, and kicked the door open, blades high in the air.

"SURPRISE!" I roared, laughing hysterically. It felt good…really, REALLY good to laugh that uncontrollably.

"RIN-KUN!" Kaede screamed in hoarse emotion. "HELP!"

"Oh, NOW you're going to play all innocent, are you?" I cackled, drool and vomit dripping from my lips. My hands were shaking with anger.

"Rin-kun! Man, it's been awhile! How's it going or some shit?" Bark said, turning his head. He froze and looked at me in fear for some reason, like a little BITCH, HAHA!

He's dead, isn't he? I could have sworn I saw Primula totally toast him. Very odd. Oh well, this time he ain't walkin' away!

"Bark-kun...? Why'd you stop?" Kaede said, looking up at me in confusion and freezing similarly.

I burped and licked my lips as I studied the skin on Bark's face. How quickly it could come off…so little clothing between him and his beautiful blood, muscle, and tissue. It will be fantastic. I've always been more a fan of organs, myself, though.

"Kaede-chan…his eye…"

"I see it, too…"

They think I can't hear them, they think I'm not here or some shit, do they? They think they can betray me? I'll fucking butcher them!

"Oh well!" Bark said, going back to fucking her jiggling ass cheeks.

I was hoping that would happen. I rushed Bark from the back, knocking them both forwards onto the bed, with both blades deep in his ribs. As I emptied my bladder in excitement, I slit beautiful, perfect circles in his back with those fucking awesome blades as he screamed in sweet pain, HAHA! That skin gone, I masterfully severed his ribs and flipped them out of the resulting holes, just like Madam Moonbite (the Cyclops lady's name, apparently) instructed, HAHA!

He was screaming, screaming, for help. Magic was flying all around but completely missing me. I reached in, sunk my fingernails into his gushing lungs, and RIPPED them out of his body. Blood dropped all over me like a girl having her period. It was beautiful, holy. Morally correct.

Bark spasmed a few times, but then was quite dead, especially after I ripped out his heart, too, and punctured it with my fingers.

Kaede might have been talking to me, or screaming, I don't know, the drums and advice from Madam Moonbite were so fucking LOUD.

At any rate, I shoved Bark's beautifully desecrated body off the bed, to make way for the real prize. Kaede immediately turned around, to try and hide her blood-spewing asshole, but what good would that do? I've already seen you betray me, slut! I've already seen the fucking deed! You're going to die now, bitch!

"Thank you, Rin-kun! You saved me! Thank you." I heard it. It was a mere echo of a whisper, but I heard it, even over the cacophony in my mind.

I froze before her, blades held high above my head, ready to puncture her sinful, sweat-covered titties. And she's missing a nipple, just like a fucking sinner would. It's up to me to make things right, I'll…

Wait.

Wait a goddamned second.

Something seems oddly familiar about these thoughts. I'm not sure why, but all these voices in my head…their ideas sound a LOT like the evil Kaede's rhetoric.

Strange.

Oh well, I…

Wait.

Am I being manipulated?

As soon as I thought that, Moonbite's advice grew louder and louder. I knew then that I was right. My hurt and anger were being taken advantage of by some outside force.

Even though I hate Kaede right now…I would never want to kill her. That's not me.

I lowered the weapons and slid off the bed, telling myself to calm down. Everything…every single bone in my body was aching to kill that redheaded slut…I was only barely controlling myself.

I heard her sigh in relief. HOW DARE SHE! SHE CAN'T SIGH! I whirled on her and snarled. "You think everything's fine now? How the fuck COULD it be?"

"I know, I know, it looks bad, and I understand your mad, but…"

"Last chance," I snapped.

"I…what?"

"Playing motherfucking dumb, are ya? WHY do you think I've been so nice to you before now, huh? Do you think, just out of the goodness of my motherfucking heart, I've forgotten about all the SHIT you've done to me all my life?"

"W-well, I was hoping that…"

I dropped my blades, jumped on her and started fondling her floppy pussy and breasts, glaring at her in disgust. "Just because I love you, and you know I think you're beautiful, you think you can USE me like a puppet, huh? Well I'm glad I found out your game, now, SLUT!"

"Rin-kun, calm down!" she pleaded, even as her pussy was lubricating.

I want to rip off her breasts so badly. I want to stab the shit out of her bruised crotch. I can't do this anymore. I'm so horny, but I can't continue if I hope not to mutilate her.

I slid back off and glared at her. "I told you I'd give you one last chance. ONE! Just one, you pathetic whore! And now you've spent it. So now I leave." I stormed out before I broke her neck in anger.

Taking only my bookbag with me, I strode out the door, shaking with malice at the girl I had so naively trusted. It was thickly cloudy, looking neither day nor night. Everything was now grey and dead, just like the love I thought was finally blossoming in my heart.

The voices had quieted significantly, enough for me to rationally check whether I actually wanted to do this or not. And I did. I very badly wanted to leave and be as far away from this monster as possible.

"RIN-KUN!" Kaede screamed, running after me. She seemed to have at least had the foresight to slide on a sports bra and a pair of bloomers. "D-don't leave me!" She was hysterical. Crying. Good. I want it to be painful as possible.

"Kaede-chan, there is no circle in hell bad enough for the type of horrible person you have been all your life. I was an idiot for ever thinking there was any good in you at all."

"Rin-kun, he raped me, I swear to God!"

"That's not what it fucking sounded like on my end, you stupid cunt!" I spat. Yeah, I knew it was 10:30 AM and the neighbors were staring. "And don't give me that you couldn't get him off – you're like a torture genius! If you had wanted his dick on the floor it would have GODDAMNED WELL BEEN BLOODY, SEVERED, AND LYING ON THE FLOOR!"

She winced.

An old lady approached from behind. "Son, keep your voice down, there're children around."

"Please leave me alone, Miss, today's an off day for me," I told her gently. The old lady staggered back and then limped off, probably to call the cops or something. They'd likely already been called.

"Rin-kun, please, PLEASE, just come inside, we can talk about this…"

"Never again. I will never set foot in that house again. Let me ask you, did you actually think I'd forgiven you for everything you'd done? Did you think I could ever love someone as purely evil as you? Of course I couldn't! You won't ever find happiness, if I can help it."

"I love you. And you told me under the bridge that you loved me, too. Were you lying?" Tears streamed down her face.

"Yes," I lied. "I was only trying to help you. But I see now that you are actually just a crazy nymphomaniac monstrosity that I wish I'd never met."

"Our bath! Remember our bath? You wanted to do that, right? At least come and enjoy it with me!"

"Why would I want to do that after what you've done? As a matter of fact, why would I ever want to do anything at all with a girl who makes a habit of stabbing needles in my crotch, shitting in my food, sanding off my FUCKING LIPS, and several hundred other demented things?"

"I don't care if you hate me," Kaede said in a strong voice, despite her tears. "You can hate me all you want. You can beat me, torture me, anything you want at all. I just want you beside me. I NEED you here, Rin-kun."

"If that's what'll hurt you the most, then leaving is what I'm going to do."

"Look," she took a needle out of her bra, handed it to me, and got on her knees in front of me. "Use it on me, if it'll make you stay. Just a taste of the vengeance you'll get if you stay. I'll make you happy, whatever it takes. I'll let you destroy any part of me, mutilate anything, just, please, just….stay. I know you hate me, but I need you."

I was so angry, so fucking psychotic with hate for her that I almost used it to scrape a sexy fucking line down her face, stopping to pop her eye as I went. But I held my hand; just barely, I held it.

"I'm not you, Kaede-chan. I would never do any of the things you did to me. Not in a million years." I threw away the needle. "Goodbye, monster. I hope you never sleep again." And I left her there, kneeling, staring at the ground in desperation and absolute grief. I couldn't have imagined a better revenge if I tried.

I still felt awful though, in every way. I walked down the street, trying to get as far away as I could from those three houses that wounded me so deeply. Now that I've denied Sakura, Sia, and Nerine, none of them would take me in. Or if they did, I would die from feelings of guilt. I guess my friends would let me stay with them, but I wouldn't want to impose. I'm not sure how much Mayumi knows about the stuff that's gone on, but I think she might like me being there. Possibly.

That's what I'll try, once school's out. We haven't broken up, yet after all, as far as I know. And I would, naturally, be taking advantage of her resources, but I'm sure I can find some way to make up for it.

But for now, I just have to get away from here…to some place where no one, whether it's Kaede, the princesses, or the cops, can find me.

* * *

**A/N**: That was uplifting, I have to admit.

As usual, know that I deeply appreciate every review. Especially for this chapter, I'd love to know what you think.

Also, as usual, I leave you with a promise of my intent to update as soon as I can. Hopefully it ends up being true this time.

All the best,

KoshKing777


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **This is the dreaded chapter that I was so not looking forward to that I almost stopped writing Fanfiction altogether. It's a risky turn in the story, and I am doing everything in my power to try and stop the plot and story from entirely jumping the shark. Rest assured that I know this chapter is highly irregular, and does not necessarily signify the direction of the rest of the series, despite it seeming that way. Think of it more as the beginning of a mini-plot arc. There will be more relationship-heavy drama afterwards. I know what I'm doing (I think) so, please, I invite you to take the plunge with me.

There's quite a bit of infodumping here, but I tried my best to make it enjoyable and interesting. Let me know how I do! ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Shuffle! or any other Navel-owned series. I'm also not insane, however much this story might seem to suggest to the contrary.

* * *

**Shuffle! Moonbite**

**Chapter 14**

(_Rin's Point of View_)

By the time I made it to Blanc Hotre, the Cathedral, the sky was so dark for the middle of the day that I expected it to start raining at any moment. But its inevitable fate was being wrung, prolonged, and stretched out.

The doors shuddered as they rushed to close behind me, encasing me in the absolute emptiness of my preferred hideout. I walked up the aisle, aware of vague whispers dancing around the ugly stained glass at the very border of my awareness. There always seemed to be muted voices in here…maybe echoes, encased in the air from worshippers who no longer came.

For a few years now, everyone had abandoned the churches, discovering the gods and demons whom they had always worshipped were not so unlike us; certainly not deserving of glorification from millions of people every day.

Recently, though, I've been thinking that there seems to be something else that we still can't sense or totally define…something evil that me and Kaede can attest does exist.

I climbed up the stairs to my hidey-hole in the steeple, cursing my naivety for trusting Kaede, especially to the extent that I would possibly irrevocably destroy my relationship with the princesses and Sakura. Now, no matter what I do or say to those girls, who I now realize are the only good things that ever happened to me, they'll just think I'm desperate now, or that I just think of them as sloppy seconds.

I've trapped myself, and I've killed Bark, when he was just being used by Kaede to get to me. She's tricked me again. I must be the stupidest fucktard ever for thinking that someone who regularly gutted me like a fish and never once showed any remorse could actually care about someone.

"God, I'm so STUPID!" I roared in agony, my voice bouncing off the walls. I walked to the window of the steeple, looking out at the dark world below. I could probably die from here…it might be for the best. All I feel anymore is pain. That way, I wouldn't hurt anyone else.

I shuddered and massaged my eye, leaning against the stone. What was I supposed to do now? I needed someone to tell me. I wanted to try and talk to the princesses, but they were probably gone, and they both seemed rightfully angry at me; let's face it, my happy future with them was over.

We're all selfish, me and all the people in my life. If I just lay inside a coffin and die, no one will ever find me; people never search in here.

Huh. That's an interesting idea. I wonder why I thought of that all of a sudden?

My hair inexplicably stood on end.

Weirded out, I looked around, feeling a crescendo in the empty voices that seemed to constantly follow me. My throat seemed to grow in size with dread as I noticed a human shape out of the corner of my eye.

I hissed in alarm and spun around to face them, and was surprised to see…Matsuri, dressed in her typical schoolboy outfit.

"Hey, Rin-kun," she said with a simple wave, the church's acoustics giving her voice an odd texture, as if there were many Matsuri's talking at once.

"I, I…what are you doing here, Matsuri-kun?" And why is my heart beating so fast?

She approached me, walking in a stately gait. "That's not important right now, my friend. You were feeling troubled, so I came here to help."

"Wow, that's…impeccably good timing of you. I could use a, um, a friend right now," I said, turning to look back out the window. Maybe I don't need love; I can find worth in the fact that some people think I'm worth being friends with, right?

"It's an interesting view," Matsuri said, sidling up to me. I looked her over, making sure it was really her and not just an illusion; she seemed to look like herself, so I forget about the stupid idea. "Why do you like to hang out here, of all places?"

I shrugged, looking out at the school. "A really long time ago, people believed churches would protect them from evil spirits or something along those lines. I've had a lot of evil in my life, you know, so I just decided to buy into the protection superstition, if only for my peace of mind."

"Well, why? Did you think you might be haunted by something?"

"Um, I don't know, exactly…there've definitely been more than a few visions. Echoes of really awful, awful things, images…I'm pretty sure they're dreams, but…" I shivered, trying to shake the images of the nightmares that plagued me. "I don't think they're really why I'm trying to get away…"

"Well, I don't think you should ignore them. Maybe they're more than dreams? Like night terrors or something. What are they like?"

"You know…hideous versions of Kaede, trapping me in rooms and taunting me with eyes; evil eyes, many eyes, eyes that she squished in her hand! Ancient, old, old people, who look disturbingly like myself, chasing me through labyrinths of endless crimson and violet. And really brief flashes that make me want to puke to bring up. They all feel scary familiar, you know, like I've experienced all of them before." All my hair was standing up on end. "I've become convinced, and always suspected, that there are powerful, evil beings on a higher plane of existence than us…and they won't leave me alone."

I looked at Matsuri and jumped away in fright. I have no idea why; perhaps, the things I was seeing in my head…yeah, her eyes had a nasty, snakelike tone that looked like the eyes that women in my dreams had.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"S-sorry, I'm really jumpy, I guess."

"Come here," she abruptly commanded, spinning around.

"A-alright?" I said, following her as she inexplicably walked to another part of the tower. How did she know her way around this place?

"I'm sorry you've been suffering so much, Rin-kun. I had no idea!"

"That's okay. You know how it goes, life just has an evil vendetta against me." We were in a room that felt warmer for some reason. The ceiling was low, and tile-like squares were pressed into walls at set intervals. Even in the darkness of abandonment, it had a slight orange glow.

"It really does seem like that for some reason, doesn't it?" Matsuri said, stopping in the room's center and turning around. "I believe in some superstitions too, you know."

"Let me guess; they have something to do with this room?" Why wasn't she blinking? Something seemed very off here.

"Yes. Have you been in here before, Rin-kun?" she said, walking to a candle and lighting it with a matchbox stored in a drawer below it.

"Yeah, just briefly, though. I didn't know what it was. Is there some special, um…purpose, to this room?"

"Wow, you're pretty smart," she giggled, lifting the candle by its plate and carrying it to one of the squares. "Come here and look at this square."

"Sure thing, boss." I walked over next to her, despite my nervous twitchiness. According to what I could read by the candlelight, it read…Rin Tsuchimi: 1987-2008. "WHOA, what the fuck?" I yelled, lurching backwards as my body seemed to chill as if it were dropped in arctic water. "I-Is that m-my…grave marker?" I yelled.

"Coffin, actually," Matsuri said casually, dusting it off with her palm.

"How the…what the FUCK?" Why is my coffin here, implanted in the wall next to all these other, old dead people? "Why does it say 2008? How can it say that when it's only 2004? AND I'm alive!"

"Well, that's when you die, apparently," Matsuri said like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"That's really fucking reassuring," I said, feeling a huge pressure in my brain; about what, I didn't know. "You're not Matsuri-kun, are you? Who are you?"

She ignored my question and narrowed her unblinking eyes. "I just care about you and want you to get better."

"And seeing my coffin is supposed to do that?"

"No, I want you to get in it."

I stiffened, recalling my similar impulse just a couple minutes ago. "W-what good will that do?"

Matsuri inclined her head. "I told you I had a superstition, didn't I? In the demon world, there is a belief that lying in the place of your burial can cure hauntings by evil spirits."

"So the demon world believes in spirits, too?"

"Yes, of course."

"And…aren't you a spirit?"

"What are you talking about? I'm Matsuri-kun, and I've known you for a long time."

"Y-yeah, that's true, but…" I crinkled up my nose. "Something just doesn't feel right about this whole situation." And it smells bad in here, come to think of it.

"Look," she said. "I'm not going to bury you alive or anything. We'll just pull out the coffin, you can lie in it for a couple hours, and then the visions should stop. And more than that, it will put your soul at ease. We are linked through time and fate with the place of our burial, and that helps settle the mortal excitement of the soul. It should be good for you." She stopped and cleared her throat. "There have been documented cases of this working in the demon world; you should give it a try."

"So…knowing you're going to die in four years is a fairly common experience in the demon world, then?"

"More common than here, for sure."

"O…kay?" I sighed. "Well, I guess I don't really have much to lose."

"Come on, I'll get in with you. It won't be bad at all!" Matsuri pulled a release lever and then slid my coffin out with relative ease.

My skin itched infuriatingly while I watched her work. Everything about this felt completely wrong. She had pretty much dodged all my questions...this was just too suspicious an activity to participate in without some answers!

"Matsuri-kun…or, whoever you are…how is it even possible for this coffin to be here, when it's dated that late? And it's covered with dust!"

She shrugged. "It's a dusty cathedral."

"…yup."

"It's really going to be fine, Rin-kun! Don't concern yourself with such things." With surprising strength, she laid it on the ground and removed the top. I flinched, expecting to see myself there, but it was empty, save for clean velvet and a glass eye.

What now? Do I put my faith in this unearthly, bizarre situation when I'm already fairly certain that beings with malevolent intent do watch me?

"I…Matsuri-kun, I won't set foot in that coffin until you tell me SOMETHING about what's going on here!"

"Rin-kun…" she sighed.

"Why did you suddenly appear? How do you know so much about this cathedral and this tradition? And why don't you think it's strange that this coffin is dated for a year in the future, WHILE I'm alive? Even if you believed in fate, that'd be a stretch."

"…Are you done?"

"…I…suppose."

"I don't know much more than you, Rin-kun," she said, stepping into my coffin. "But sometimes faith is more important than knowledge, isn't it?"

"Why would it be?"

"If it saves you, then who cares about the why, how, and what? Right?"

"Okay, but…"

"I don't have the answers you're looking for, so it's a waste of time to wait for them to come. So climb on in, and then you can protect yourself!"

I felt like this decision, with a bizarrely-acting girl in a filthy, dark moratorium, carried far more weight than it possibly should have. Why should it matter if I got into my coffin or not? It did matter to me, though, for reasons I couldn't put a finger on.

Matsuri's hand hovered, outstretched, in the air towards me. "Come in, Rin-kun."

"Alright," I said, pushing down my fears of being in such close proximity with a girl for such a long time. I could do this. I'm over that now.

I grabbed her small, soft hand and stepped into the coffin, taking deep breaths.

"It's going to be alright, now, Rin-kun," she said, hugging me. I shuddered a bit but still patted her on the head and back, just to be a good sport.

She murmured something I couldn't hear into my thumping chest. "What was that?" I asked.

Completely unexpectedly, a heavy force crashed into me, tipping me backwards into the coffin, Matsuri coming down with me.

"Wha-?" I tried to speak, but realized I was completely immobile, except for my eye and a very small fraction of my ability to speak.

"Shhh!" The not-Matsuri that was now slithering over me put a finger to her lips, her shadowed face looking completely sinister.

The bad feeling I had about this only intensified as I saw her reach over the rim of the coffin and grab the cover, pulling it over us. I was going to be trapped in here with her! I was going to suffocate with an evil girl on top of me!

I screamed as I realized what was happening, but I was totally powerless. She leaned in and gave me a full-tongue kiss before sliding the lid completely on top of us.

Everything became the darkest black I had ever seen. As my body quivered uncontrollably, I felt my coffin-mate shift her position over to my side.

"Uh? Uh-UH-uh-AH?" I tried to speak, stupidly. She kept running her hands all over me, up and down my chest, my arms, and my legs, even fondling my crotch sometimes. Her hands seemed to be changing shape, strangely, the more she touched me. They seeped to be getting tougher, longer, and spidery. What the hell was going on?

I also began to hear a very low note of sound emanate from her location on my left side, coupled with the appearance of an increasingly rancid smell.

Her bulk was increasing massively as well. What kind of pungent transformation was this?

While reaching down my pants with one long, crusty hand, she spread the other over my face. It was bumpy, grimy, and ancient-feeling.

Matsuri-kun?

Pumping dread into my thundering veins, the coffin spontaneously lit up with a bright red-orange glow, revealing the traumatizing sight of Madam Moonbite taking up nearly the entire coffin with me, her floppy-skinned and mutilated face gaping at me with greedy possession.

We were alone…in a closed coffin…with literally no free space. My mind soon evaporated into pure panic.

I made a yelping sound and started crying in fear, but could do little else. As she played with my penis, she brought her horrific, lipless mouth closer to my open one, her pointed, mossy teeth hungrily poised to feed.

There was absolutely nothing more hideous than this ancient, Cyclops beast devil monster thing that I could even imagine. Why was she doing this to me?

She planted her wide mouth on mine, a stream of yellow mucus dumping into my mouth as she hungrily licked my tongue. Unable to swallow, I gurgled as the gunk filled my mouth, slowly seeping down my throat.

I finally pissed myself all over her hands, unable to hold back anymore.

"Aha!" she crowed, gunk showering on my face, "Little Rin-kun pissed himself like a…yess…BITCH! Why would you piss on my fingers, you little…SHIT? Don't you know any…HHMMMMM-manners?"

I just whimpered in return as she splattered the fingers I'd pissed on into my mouth.

"Suck it! Suck your shame, you ape. This is the moment I've been waiting for, for so long."

After rubbing her fingers around my mouth abusively, she messed around with her clothes for a moment, looking down.

"It's nice that my spell prohibits you from…hm-mm, yes…TALKING to me! I'm sure you wouldn't have any fucking thing to say, would you? Fortunately, HAH, you won't need to move for what I'm going to do to you."

She lurched her bloated body around in a circle, positioning her bare crotch over my face. "I'm going to…FUCK you with…THIS DICK, haha!" It looked like it had seen centuries of cellular degrading and rotting, covered with layers of fungus and pus. It didn't help things that she didn't seem to have a nutsack, either, her balls just dangling and dripping black juice.

Giggling and snorting, she struggled to reposition herself again. "I've waited a…HMMMMMMMMM-long time for this, *snort,* yeah!" She ripped off my pants and quickly resumed her frantic feeling of my genitals. "Just gotta….fucking…get into position…and…"

I tried to steel myself.

"Here we go!" the Cyclops coughed, ramming her pulsating zombie dick into my asshole, completely breaking the skin in one go and jamming right up my shitter.

I cried and screamed and pissed again, after which she immediately stuck her piss-covered hand back in my mouth. I didn't care about that anymore, though…all I could feel anymore was my ass! I could feel the blood dripping out of it as she savagely fucked it! DAMN! It felt like someone was taking a cheese grater to it!

My mind moved to another place, a decrepit place, which even Kaede's worst treatments had never sent me to. The state of utter depravement that can only be reached when all you can feel is massive, leprosy-carrying penis filling up all your mind and body. Moonbite's essence and extreme obesity were inescapable, suffocating me. Chanting, deranged voices in deep basso octaves broke out in my mind in concordance with Moonbite's thrusts into my blood-spewing anus.

Little bubbles of liquid began to fuck out of her cock and into my ass, but not from her urethra. I was confused at first, but realized that her small, white pus-globs were bursting from the force of her slimy fucking. I was going to have some serious STD's if I ever walked away from this.

"I'm doing it…I can't believe it!" Moonbite burped. "I'm actually raping Rin-kun up his…HMMMM…traitorous little ASS!" I vomited, the yellow acid splashing into my face and getting into both my eye sockets.

In repulsion, my ass contracted tightly on its own, and Moonbite screamed out a throaty, phlegm-spitting cry as she ejaculated forcefully into my ass. I made a groan of horror as I felt her cakey semen creep and foam down my asshole, mixing with my blood, infected pus, and her diseased cock, of course.

"Oh, my DEVIL!" she panted, beginning to slam her bare, dangling testicles on my buttcheeks. "That was a good fuck! Let's top that, butt-slut, HAHA!"

We're going AGAIN?

I let out a bloodcurdling scream, spraying more vomit in my face, and suddenly blacked out, likely from loss of oxygen.

* * *

I came to in a very strange place; it was an abandoned cityscape, with mist filling the dirt streets and leaning, ghastly skyscrapers seeming to be just refraining from tipping over and crushing me.

Was this place…in my mind? Did I make this as an escape due to my horror or something like that? Perhaps I'm dreaming, or it's another one of those visions…

I stood up, my body sore, bruised, and shaking uncontrollably. I checked my ass, and, yes, it was still gaping wide open, dripping with thick, chunky semen. So that really did happen, it seems.

I…I can't believe I lost my virginity that way! Holy SHIT!

I wiped the vomit from my face and looked around, still shaken and nauseous. Almost immediately, I spotted the hunchbacked form of Madam Moonbite approaching me through the mist, weighty dread and complete horror overtaking me as I recognized her. She was making many hacking and groaning sounds, and the only bit of her that I could get a good view of was her single, glowing gold eye from the middle of her forehead, focusing on me with an air of complete ownership and lust.

Naturally, I did what any man who had just been raped by a female Cyclops would do, and ran as quickly as I could in the opposite direction, no longer holding back my tears. CAN someone get more violated than that? I thought I'd gotten away from that for good when I left Kaede! How does this kind of shit ONLY happen to me?

"Tsuchimi-san."

I heard a voice say my proper name, seemingly directly into my brain rather than through my ears.

Slowing my pace, I looked around, still wide-eyed and freaked out of my mind. In front of me were huge black gates in a web shape. Maybe the gates were talking to me? No, that's stupid.

"Stop crying. I need you to be focused. Urgently."

That voice again.

I tried to talk to the gate, through my sobs. "But, but, I was just raped! By a Cyclops I don't even know! And, who are you, and how are you talking to me?"

"Look up. It is I, the Divine Scionness."

"Huh?" Sniffing, I looked up and saw a figure descending from the lightning-filled sky. As she hovered nearer, I saw that she had an angelic appearance, with two gray wings that seemed much longer than an albatross's. She was completely naked, of course, but didn't have a threatening aura like any of the other apparitions I'd seen recently.

She was actually fairly beautiful, with long, flowing purple hair and a dainty figure. Her face was adorned with slimy, glimmering tentacles, though, and her breasts were covered with strange bony growths that seemed to erupt out of her armpits.

"Um, hi," I said, for lack of anything better to say.

"Things will only get worse if you do not reclaim your courage."

"Worse? Worse HOW? What could possibly be…"

"Hold your tongue." She didn't say it meanly, but her tone gave me the distinct impression that I was addressing her in a manner that she found offensive. "You are infected, Tsuchimi-san. As you are aware, you just copulated with the entity known as the Hammer of the Void in the demon world."

"Well, copulated isn't exactly the phrase I would use…" I began.

"I raped the shit out of your fucking ass, would be a more accurate term, I think," a decrepit voice said from immediately behind me, causing me to moan and whirl around, my neck hair standing on end. Moonbite's rotten, hideous face was directly behind me, somehow looking even more frightening now that she was smiling with obvious pleasure.

"I greet you, Hammer of the Void," the exquisite angel said from behind me, apparently addressing Moonbite. She was so beautiful in comparison, and I felt so traumatized, that I wouldn't have complained if this "Divine Scionness" forced me to stay with her as her obedient pet in this abandoned city for the rest of eternity. Unfortunately, I wasn't presented with that opportunity.

I did, however, leap towards her, in desperate need of a hug or some comfort. The angel responded by swatting me away with surprising force, the back of her hand hitting me with the force of what felt like a sledgehammer.

Being on the ground did have its benefits, though, since I was out of Moonbite's immediate attention. The two spiritual beings were now looking at each other (I'm only guessing that the Scionness was probably looking at Moonbite, though, since she doesn't have any eyes).

"Wow, so much respect. I wouldn't have expected that, coming from you, O divine one," Moonbite vomited out in a mocking falsetto.

"Why don't you give up, Moonbite? Your plan has not worked before, and it will fail today, yet again."

"There's the constant judgment I remember. More in…HMMMM, YES…accordance with someone who just cockblocked me from fucking the FUCKNG shit out of my precious vessel here."

Vessel? That's extremely disturbing-sounding.

"You will not relent, then?"

"You won't get the fuck out of here, then? You're cheating, and you know it."

"You leave me no choice but to inform Tsuchimi-san of what is happening, then."

"Oh, far be it from me to interfere with your OH-SO-grand designs." Moonbite turned to me and stared at my limp dick, licking her non-existent lips as she did so.

"Tsuchimi-san, I am addressing you now." Her voice is SO pretty, it makes me want to start crying again. "The Divine Scionness has never done so before to a human, so listen well to what I say."

"Okay, you have my full attention, your, um, your Majesty?" I said, wincing.

"Your Divinity is appropriate. Now then, this being," she gestured to Moonbite, who was stroking her dick at me, "is an extremely ancient spirit, who has lost her corporeal form. As a result, her ability to gain a foothold for power and influence in the three realms has been almost completely nullified. She has been thus for thousands of years."

"I see, Your Divinity," I said, sitting up with interest. I was still confused, though; the monster seemed pretty damned tangible to me.

"The reason she can touch you, Tsuchimi-san, is that you were altered by her caste in your youth. Does this information sound familiar?"

"Nope, not at all." I said. "Your Divinity."

"You and two human girls, whom you are close to, were experimented on by Moonbite's followers when you were but children. The results of the procedure operate thusly: as the subject's grasp on sanity begins to loosen, the more foothold and influence Moonbite obtains over the subject. Do you understand, Tsuchimi-san?"

"Not at all, but I'm trying. Are you saying that only people who were altered by this, um, thing, and who are also insane, can be touched by Moonbite?"

"Yes."

"Cool. So…all I've gotta do is get sane again, right?"

"If that was the only problem, then you would indeed be correct. However, Moonbite has had a purpose in altering you and inducing your insanity– she intends to use you as her vessel, so that she can once again obtain great power and influence in the three realms."

"…Oh."

"While she raped you, Moonbite took the opportunity to infect you with her entire being."

"Infect? What the fuck?" Moonbite cackled with a sneer. "Posession! I POSSESSED his sexy little body."

"But your spell does, literally, infect Tsuchimi-san, rotting and disfiguring him until he shares your genetic structure, physical appearance, and mind."

THAT sounds extremely bad.

"WHAT?" I screamed. "I'm going to turn into that…thing?"

Both of them glared at me.

"No, seriously. Your Divinity, is it already too late?"

"If you mean to avoid contracting the infection, then yes, it is too late. You will now become less Tsuchimi Rin and more the Hammer of the Void with every passing day."

"So…if I kill myself, will that prevent her from using my body as a new one for herself?"

"That is an admirable notion. Unfortunately, no, if you commit suicide, she will simply reanimate your corpse and morph it to her will. As things stand now, you will become the Hammer of the Void and the Earth and Demon realms, at least, will fall to her power."

"YES!" Moonbite grunted, pumping a stubby fist in the air. "You're all totally fucked!"

I stared at her in disbelief. I couldn't even begin to process how this could have happened.

"However, there is one way to rid yourself of the disease and ban the Hammer of the Void from your essence, permanently."

"What is it? I'll do anything, Your Divinity!"

Moonbite folded her arms impatiently as the angel continued, "You must enter a marriage with a female god in my realm at the Holy Citadel. There, and only through the holy process of divine marriage with a female god, can I give you my blessing, and by extension, my protection from all evil."

I blushed immediately at the mention of marriage with a god. The obvious choice would be Sia, but I didn't know if I could get her back after what I'd done.

"Do you understand, Tsuchimi-san? This is the most important message I wanted to deliver to you. If you care about the realms at all, you MUST marry a god at the Holy Citadel. It is the sole way."

"I understand, Your Divinity."

"It's never going to happen," Moonbite snorted. "His body's already begun decaying, and I manipulated him into alienating the Princess. It's just not feasible, especially in the brief time before I take over his willpower, which will happen quite soon."

I looked down at my naked body. "Well, it doesn't look like I'm rotting too fast…"

"I am suspending your state for the moment, Tsuchimi-san," the angel said, "but in the real world, your body is, unfortunately, quickly transforming into something unrecognizable.

"WHAT? Then I have to go fast! I have to get Sia-chan to marry me before it's too late!" I yelled, standing up.

"Wait, Rin-kun, there is another choice," Moonbite said, her body mysteriously vanishing under a cloud of voluminous sparkles.

"Do I even want to know?" I muttered as the angel groaned.

The sparkles disappeared to reveal Matsui again, this time completely naked. Even though I knew it was really Moonbite, I couldn't help but be totally transfixed by every subtle detail of her glamorous beauty.

"I was not lying to you before, Rin-kun. I truly am Matsuri-kun, just not the Matsuri-kun that you know."

"Don't start," the Divine Scionness commanded, but Matsuri/Moonbite gave her the finger and continued.

"You aren't the first Rin-kun to exist, my darling. Far from it; what this slutty bitch-fuck here with dicks growing out of her eyes is trying to keep from you…"

"They're tentacles," the angel muttered.

"…is that you are no less than the seven-hundred and ninety-second Rin-kun to exist in Verbena."

"How is that possible?"

"My worshippers reset the time that binds your reality, on my command, every time I give the order, which, incidentally, has happened seven-hundred and ninety-one times."

"So, what you're saying is, you're the first Matsuri-kun?"

"That's right! Oh my god! You're so smart it just makes me want to fuck you!" she cheered. Her tone became more seductive. "And, you might not have noticed, but we're both naked right now, and very close to one another…why not just pledge your life to me and we can enjoy each other's company for the rest of eternity? How's that sound? Not a bad deal, right?"

I shook my head, disgusted of the fact that even a small part of me was interested in her offer. "Just keep explaining. So, you've somehow aged, right? How come no one else has?"

"Because I now exist outside your reality, I am now bound by a different sort of time, and I have, thus, lived over sixty-thousand years, eventually disfiguring into the disgusting appearance you and Kaede-chan associate with Madam Moonbite. There have been many other Matsuri-kun's, you know, and I'm the only one that became Madam Moonbite."

"I see. That's actually pretty interesting." I scratched my head. "But why do you keep resetting the clock, anyway? Don't you get sick of living?"

"I've been waiting for you, this entire time, Rin-kun. Only this once have I ever succeeded in obtaining you as my new vessel for the rest of eternity. You have always been my one true love, you know, and since I have the ability, I've tried thousands upon thousands of different tactics to finally obtain you. And I have."

Quite unexpectedly, Matsuri/Moonbite got on her knees. "I know you have every reason to hate me, but I have only desired you for sixty-thousand years. I've only ever masturbated about you…okay, and Asa-sempai, as well…but you're the only one I've wanted to combine souls with, for the rest of eternity. So please, I beg of you…" She nuzzled her soft cheek against my crotch. "Consider what could make us both eternally happy! I love you so much…" Moonbite actually began to sob, making me feel even more weird. Without warning, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, Moonbite slipped her lips around my dick and began gently sucking it.

"That's enough, creature," the angel said from behind me. A flash of light arced out of the clouds and burst into Moonbite's petite body, sending her sprawling away from me, yet still maintaining her more attractive appearance.

"I wasn't going to…" I began to protest to the Divine Scionness.

"She's not telling you the whole story."

"Bullshit! I've only been truthful to him!" Moonbite said, spreading her legs to me and fondling her vagina while winking at me.

"Tsuchimi-san, this disturbed person may once have tried many more admirable tactics to get you to fall in love with her, but centuries upon thousands of centuries have passed since then. She is no longer even vaguely sane."

"Right, but…I feel kind of bad about her, all the same, even granted that she's a hideous monster bent on world domination."

"AHH! Rin-kun! I never dreamed you'd actually think positively of me at all!" Moonbite stopped masturbating and clapped her hands together with a genuine smile. "Let's be together forever, and have lots of crazy buttsex!" She turned around and bent over so I could get a better view of said butt. I blushed and stopped looking as soon as I accidentally imprinted the image into my mind forever.

"Tsuchimi-san…I do not think you realize how much she has manipulated you in order to get you to become this mentally broken."

"NO!" Moonbite roared, stomping up and throwing her arms around me possessively. Warm, wet juices dripped down my thigh from the touch of her crotch. "I never thought this could happen. Don't you DARE! I SWEAR I'll change! I won't conquer anything! I'll never hurt anyone!"

"SHE KILLED YOUR PARENTS!" the angel roared, her voice echoing around the city.

"FUCK YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Moonbite cried out in agony, falling to her knees and weeping violently. "HE LOVED ME! For a split-second, he was going to love me!" She started screaming and howling mindlessly at this point, until I nudged her butt gently with my toe.

"Is it true? I thought my parents died in a car crash." I was a little confused, and Moonbite seemed so vulnerable now that I sort of wanted to support her, despite all that she'd done.

Moonbite spun around to me and started talking so fast that I couldn't vaguely understand what she was saying. Her eyes were beaded with tears and desperate hope.

"Let me show you what happened," the Divine Scionness said to me, kicking the disguised Cyclops in the head before causing reality to morph around us again, so that the angel and I were standing in the middle of a blurry intersection.

"This is the place where your parents were murdered," she told to me, cars flashing past us at heightened speeds. "Please watch carefully when I tell you." We waited a few seconds, and time suddenly slowed way down.

Two cars approached each other at a snail's pace. Through the windshield of my parents' sky blue minivan, I could see my dad looking at my mom with obvious affection in his gaze She was in the middle of a laugh and eating french fries. I could see just a glimpse of Kaede's extremely beautiful mother, who was beaming at them.

I quickly looked to the other vehicle, a semi that had altered course in order to be aiming directly for them. Sneering behind the driver's seat was the melting, monstrous cyclopean face of Madam Moonbite.

"No…NO! I don't want to see," I breathed to the angel. The cars kept approaching each other. The Moonbite in the truck turned to me and laughed low and gutturally, the sound of her diseased windpipes flooding my head and making me feel quite suicidal all of a sudden.

"Stop…STOP!"

"…you are most weak," the angel said, snapping her fingers and returning us to the cityscape, where Moonbite was now standing, still nude and in Matsuri's form. "Everyone dies."

"Rin-kun," Moonbite said, looking at me with her unfortunately tear-peppered eyes. "I'm sorry; it was the only way."

I stared at her with disbelief. Which was her real personality? The monstrous being that won't stop laughing at me and seems to revel in the complete annihilation of everything that I am? Or this one, who also has a convincing case…out of all the thousands of cycles that she's overseen, she has only been after me. If her story is to be believed, of course. How can two such contrasting personalities coexist in the same person?

"The Hammer of the Void murdered your parents, Tsuchimi-san, there is no question. She also was the caster of the tsunami spell that caused your death by impalement a month ago, which was also necessary in breaking down your defenses so she could possess you. What's more, she has infected both Fuyou-san and Yue-san, both of whom she has been using as pawns to bring you closer and closer to the complete mental breakdown she needed in order to infect you."

I looked at Moonbite as the angel spoke, watching her reaction. She looked truly hopeless and dejected now, refusing to make eye contact with me.

"How could you do this to me, you fucking slut?" Moonbite whispered, face downcast. "I almost had a dream come true that I never thought could happen."

Aww…I'm not sure if she's pretending, but I really want to give her a hug now. Of course, everything is her fault, and she completely destroyed me, Kaede, and Sakura's lives, but…okay, never mind, I still hate her.

"You were the one that began unveiling privileged information to Tsuchimi-san. I merely felt that he should grasp the whole story."

"Rin-kun, my love, my adoration – if there's any goodness in you at all, please reconsider my offer! No one else could possibly love you as much as I do! I'll give you everything you could ever dream of!" She gave another shot at the begging, this time her eyes twitching and a creepy smile appearing on her face. She was losing it.

I gave her a tight hug, without even thinking. All three of us gasped, and I quickly pulled away, gulping.

"Do you not understand, Tsuchimi-san? She does not value anything but her own gain. If she loved you so much, then why is she rotting your body as we speak?" the angel pressed on.

"I know, I agree that your course of action must be done, for the good of everyone in the different worlds, but…I just sympathize with her."

"AWWWW!" Moonbite said, blushing tremendously and masturbating while standing up. "That's fine then. You can try to stop my plan as long as you still like me as a person. I don't mind!"

The angel facepalmed. "Humans…always so emotional."

"Is it wrong to sympathize with her?"

"Of course it is! She deserves no end of horrible torture for the millions of atrocities she has committed throughout her lifetime! Regardless of your idiotic feelings, please make certain you act extremely quickly, lest she will destroy your soul and doom reality as we know it. Can I count on you?"

"Yes, Your Divinity!" I bowed to her.

"Rin-kun, Rin-kun, Rin-kun, Rin-kun, Rin-kun, Rin-kun!" Moonbite screamed, skipping towards me and hugging me with Matsuri's voluptuous body.

"Yes?" I said, flinching violently from the contact.

"Do you remember the daggers I lent you, from when you killed Bark-kun?"

"Uh-huh, they were pretty cool looking. They belonged to you?"

"Yes, but as a gift for how much you've touched my fucking heart today, they're yours from now on! Only you or I can use them; they will instantly annihilate anyone else who touches them." She squeezed me much tighter than I was comfortable with and began humping me like a dog in heat, her liquids splattering down my thigh.

"Thanks, I will. Um…where are they?" I said, trying to push her away but accidentally touching her breasts, causing her to convulse and orgasm on me some more. She's…a total creep. I hated that I wasn't able to stop blushing.

"In Kaede-chan's old house!" she gushed, stroking my dick, which was still quite unenthusiastic. "GOD, I wanna FUCK you! Anyway, just go and grab them from her. Or better yet, ask her to get them for you, and then she'll EXPLODE! HA!"

"Wait, you want Kaede-chan to die? How come?"

"I hate that slutty bitch! All that unspeakable, idiotic hatred she feels for you is retarded and unforgiveable. I've always only used her for her hatred, because that was the only way she was useful. I can't stand the whore, though. If you don't kill her, I'll drive a fucking scythe through her cunt!" Moonbite chirped, afterwards nuzzling my neck and purring.

"Enough! Tsuchimi-san, you must go, now, or there will be no time to wed Lisianthus!" the angel cried, preparing a spell. "Do not forget your purpose, or I will see to it that your suffering is eternal."

"Bye-bye!" Moonbite said, skipping away backwards and still rapidly feeling her clit. "I never thought you'd be such a sweet guy! I love you!"

"Um, see ya," I said, feeling quite strange about basically everything now.

* * *

After reality blurred and morphed once again, I opened my eyes and found myself in a hospital, by the look and smell of my surroundings. Tubes were attached to my arms, so I decided to remain motionless while I gathered my wits.

Everything felt slightly off, more sublime than usual. I couldn't describe it, but I felt a little different somehow.

My memories of the vision suddenly came back to me.

Was the angel correct? Am I rotting?

Grunting, I tried to force myself up to analyze the damage, but quickly collapsed back onto the bed from the effort.

"Oh, thank the gods! Rin-kun!" I heard Mayumi exclaim from my left, surprising me with her nearness. She stood up and looked at me, hovering over me protectively with nearly tangible affection in her features that I found really calming.

"M-Mayumi-chan?" I slurred, quickly realizing as I did so that many of my teeth had apparently fallen out. That was definitely not how I remember leaving my mouth back in the coffin. Come to think of it… "How did I get here?" I managed to say, quite slowly.

"Primu-chan found you," she said, stroking my hair tenderly. "Oh, Rin-kun, I'm so glad you're alive..." Wait, what? "You've been in a coma for three weeks, and the doctor's didn't think you'd recover. Your disease is beyond anything that anyone knows about, in our world at least." She stopped and held my hand, never stopping staring at my eyes affectionately. "I think it's probably from the demon world, but no one knows for sure." She took a deep breath and looked at me with half-closed eyes, holding my hand to her micro-bosom. "Are you alright?"

"I've…felt better," I said, trying to figure out the best way to talk without any front teeth. "What's happening, exactly?"

She sucked in a breath and kissed my hand. "Your symptoms are really extreme and bizarre. So…try not to panic, okay? We want you to be as calm as possible."

I nodded a silent promise to take it calmly.

"Well, first it was just a coma. Then, we all noticed…oh, everyone's taken turns watching you, by the way…we noticed moss appearing all over your body."

I couldn't have opened my eyelids more if I tried.

"It's something like leprosy, but much more extreme. All kinds of fungus are growing inside you and on top of you, and most of your skin is miscolored now. We've been carefully peeling off must of the moss as it grows, but it keeps coming back. Um…you're inexplicably putting on tons of weight…" She was speaking quite direly, and to the point. I'm glad I was having her explain it to me rather than some emotional wreck. "And, um…"

"What?"

"Your…um…your penis is…"

Uh-oh. This can't be good. This can not be good at all.

"Um…well, the doctor's say it's unsalvageable." Now she was having trouble getting the words out. "And, um…it's completely rotted…and your nuts are far gone, too...I'm…so, SO sorry, Rin-kun!"

Holy…SHIT! The angel wasn't lying when she said I needed to hurry. I was probably gonna be Moonbite's spitting image in a couple days, at this rate. Maybe the gods can heal me! I have to find Sia right motherfucking NOW!

Mayumi kissed my hand softly. "I'm so stupid for not having sex with you when you were drunk in the cone. Now it's too late…please, please forgive me."

I forced myself, with great pain, to sit up, my newfound globs of flat jiggling in response. "There's nothing to apologize for, Mayumi-chan. You're here right now, and that's what's important."

"Oh, Rin-kun, I love you!" Mayumi said, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. "I'll still be your wife if you want me!"

"Of course I'll still have you, but I need to go…" I said, returning her hug briefly but then trying to get out of the bed.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! You need to, like, NOT move, if you want to survive at all," Mayumi said, looking at me with grave concern.

"Mayumi-chan, listen to me, this is going to sound really crazy, but I know what this disease is, and there is a way to cure it!"

"No way! What is it? I'll go get it for you!" Mayumi said, beaming into my face, but still holding both my shoulders.

I sighed, the air whistling out of my deformed mouth as I did so. She wasn't going to believe a word I was about to say. "I am becoming, basically, a monster. A physical form of an evil demon entity; you're half-demon, right? Maybe you've heard of her – her name's Madam Moonbite, and she holds the title of the Hammer of the Void. Does that ring any bells?"

"Um, I think I might have heard about the Hammer of the Void in some demon myths as a girl, but I was raised here, you know, so my knowledge is a little limited. But, go on. Why do you think this?"

"Well, basically, while I was out, I was visited by this Hammer of the Void, and an angel person whose name I forgot, and they pretty much told me this would happen when I woke up. I'm supposed to become a vessel for Madam Moonbite, a shell for her spirit to take over. You with me?"

"I…understand you. Are you sure this wasn't just a dream?"

"I'm as positive as humanly possible. There are just too many coincidences for it to be only a dream." I sighed and looked at her, wishing she wouldn't hover so close to my face. It kind of freaked me out. "The angel chick said that she could cure this disease, but ONLY if I marry a female god. That's…about it."

"You have to marry a female god?" Mayumi said, standing up, obvious doubt etched in her features.

"Yes. During the ceremony, the angel will bless me and cleanse me of the evil, and, by extension, this disease. Alright?"

Mayumi massaged her forehead like she had a headache. "Rin-kun…it's just a dream. You shouldn't take it so seriously."

"Mayumi-chan, LOOK at me! I'm turning into a moldy trash man! Exactly how they described. How could my mind have put that in my vision, if it was a dream, when I've been unconscious this whole time?"

"I dunno. There are a lot of possibilities. Perhaps you overheard the doctors talking about it and combined it with your obvious love for Sia-chan."

"I can't believe you!" I gurgled. "Why would you doubt me?"

"You should doubt yourself a little more! Sia-chan is gone. She and Eustoma-sama left before we had a chance to tell her about your condition."

"N-no…" I said. If she was back at her palace, then there might be no way I could reach her before Moonbite took over my actions. "Is she back home in her world?"

"I have no idea," Mayumi said, shrugging. "She wasn't exactly being very polite about it." My heart sunk, taking my hope with it. But the angel was clear. While I was still in control of my actions, I HAD to go seek her out, for the sake of all worlds. "Nerine-chan's gone, too, but she ran away, without her father. He's freaking out like crazy about it, sending out search parties all over all three worlds, but no one can locate her. She also disappeared before Primu-chan found you."

"Ah, is, um, Primu-chan still here, then?"

Mayumi smirked and called to the closet over her shoulder. "You can come out now, Primu-chan!"

"HIYA!" Primula kicked open the closet door, emerging dressed only in thin bandages with green camouflage prints. "I'll beat all their asses!" After looking around and seeing no one here but me and Mayumi, she composed herself and cleared her throat. "Sorry, I assumed we were under attack."

"Attack?" I asked.

"How are you doing, Rin-kun?" Primula said, walking over and looking at me with deep sadness. "I decided to stay, even though Sia-chan invited me to leave with her. I know my place is at your side, though."

"Thanks, Primu-chan, I appreciate that."

"Rin-kun, what she meant by an attack is, there's a warrant out for your arrest from the demon world, since you're the primary suspect for Bark-kun's murder," Mayumi said with concern. "He was apparently connected with some noble demon families, and his sudden murder has caused several outbreaks of violence in the face of Forbesii's inaction. As soon as you wake, Forbesii's men have orders to seize you on sight and bring you before him for punishment."

"And we won't let that happen. After all, it's about time someone murdered that retarded sex-addicted douche bag," Primula said with an adorable wink. "I'd have done it myself…as a matter of fact, I kinda thought I already had…"

"Yeah, I thought that was weird, too," I said, and me and Primu chuckled together while Mayumi looked at us like we were strange. "So…they're going to come for me soon, then?" I asked the girls.

"Yeah, watching you has been an even higher priority for the hospital than treating you," Mayumi said, rolling her eyes.

"Hmm…" I considered my options. Forbesii likely blamed me for Nerine's disappearance as well, which I felt extremely guilty about. My highest priority should be contacting Sia, but I'm also tired of not facing my problems head-on. Perhaps there's a way I could somehow help Forbesii locate his daughter, however unlikely. If not, I probably deserve whatever punishment he gives me. He also might have information on Moonbite! That's it! If anyone will believe me that she's taking me over, he will! Then, if I fail to marry Sia, perhaps he can take steps to prevent Moonbite from entering our world. It's a long shot, but no one is more likely to know of another possible solution than him.

"I'll go with them, when they come," I said, smiling crookedly with my pus-oozing lips. "I want to talk with him about Moonbite."

"Are you crazy?" Primula gasped. "And who's Moonbite?"

"They'll kill you!"

"That's a chance I'm going to take," I said. "I have to take things into my own hands."

"And you're going to do that by getting captured?" Mayumi said sarcastically. "You can barely even move! It's too late to do anything your own way, now!"

"No. I'm not giving up ever again," I told Mayumi fiercely. "Please keep trying to contact Sia-chan."

"Rin-kun…"

"Please?"

"I…I hoped you'd be happy with just marrying…me…" Mayumi said, suddenly quiet and downcast. "No one else stayed with you. They don't deserve you."

"What am I, a bucket of testicles?" Primula said dryly.

"Just…forget about your vision, Rin-kun, and spend your last days with me." What is this? Why do I have to deal with Mayumi's inferiority complex at this exact moment?

"I'm sorry, Mayumi-chan, I really am. I wish I could. But…" I took a deep breath. "I NEED to do this."

Mayumi's hair blocked her eyes as she rose and turned. "I guess…that's the end for us, then. I've given you everything I could, but I'm still not enough for you. I should have known."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I asked, flabbergasted. "Weren't you fine with getting married along with all the other girls? How is this any different?"

"Obviously because all the other girls left and, now that you're stuck with me, you're regretting I was even in the mix in the first place."

"That's not even close to true!"

"Oh really?"

"Yo, guys! Stop your bitching," Primula said, nodding to the door. Several demons in black suits were observing us. "You want me to burn off their genitals?"

"It's too risky, Primu-chan. You don't have enough control over your powers yet, and you and Mayumi might get hurt. And yes, I do care about you," I said exasperatedly at my fiancée when she rolled her eyes. Why would she treat me like this when I was clearly dying and rotting? I looked at the demons. "I'll go willingly."

They piled into the room, with an extremely buff one leading the fray. "I appreciate your cooperation, sir. May the devil have mercy on your murderous soul." He locked me, quite needlessly, in handcuffs and lifted me onto a cot for transporting my bloated, moss-covered ass.

"No! Don't!" Mayumi tried to intervene, but they roughly shoved her to the floor. One guy actually bent over and lifted up her skirt to catch a peek of her panties, but Mayumi swiftly kicked him in the nose.

"Makuhota-san, if you could do the honors?" the lead demon asked a pretty female one, also dressed in black. She chanted a few words and all of us, excluding Primula and Mayumi, immediately popped into new scenery...

* * *

...Nerine's house. I propped myself up with my weak, iron-bound hands so I could watch the situation unfold.

Forbesii, wearing a luxurious robe and a scowl, looked down at us from atop a short flight of marble stairs. The sizzling tension emanating from the Lord of Devils overpowered the usually soothing sound of trickling water that filled the room.

"May the Devil's name be praised," the demon squad said, bowing deeply in respect.

In hindsight, this…might have been a stupid idea, judging by the way he's looking at me.

* * *

**A/N: **I know, it's kind of a WTF? chapter, right? Well, it was either this or end it abruptly where it was. As usual, give me as much feedback as you can think of, as I always try to consider what you say. I doubt there will be another infodumping chapter like this, ever again. Also, Rin is not going to be this mutated for much longer, so don't fear…it's not entirely hopeless yet!

And, what's with the complete absence of Kaede in this chapter, anyway? I'll fix that next time, I promise.

Thanks for reading, please review, and remember to support Japan in their time of crisis! =)


	15. Chapter 15

**A****/****N****: **After yet another unplanned break from writing, I have AGAIN returned with a fresh shipment of Moonbite. I have now graduated from college, so with any luck, I'll have more time freed up for writing. I do have a full-time job, though, which is good for me, but bad for my writing. ^_^ We'll see how I do!

Enough about me. I thank everyone, once again, for their continued interest in this maniacal story, and I hope everyone continues to enjoy it as much as I do.

This chappie's a little off-kilter, but then again, most of this mini-arc will be as such. The usual warnings that you're by now well used to apply.

**Disclaimer**: Basically, Shuffle! is awesome and all, but…I don't own it.

**Shuffle! Moonbite**

**Chapter 15**

(_Rin__'__s __Point __of __View_)

I held my watery gaze with Forbesii's stark glare for what felt like minutes, the demons surrounding my cot continuing to bow. Finally, he spoke: "Leave him to me, men."

They stood up and saluted.

"Continue to search for my daughter. I will deal with this murderer," he said, not acting like himself at all.

"We will find her, Your Holiness," the spokesperson for the squad said, leading the troops out of the chamber.

"Lock the door behind you, if you would be so kind," Forbesii requested, being answered by an affirming grunt and the click of a lock.

Now it was just the two of us and my dread. He descended the short flight of steps and strode over to look at me.

"You look terrible," he said, knotting his eyebrows.

"It's worse than it looks," I said, my tongue tasting blood from my bleeding gums.

"I see," he said, turning and pacing to the far end of the cot. "Please forgive my performance there, you know I have to put on a show for my people at times."

"Oh yeah? I'm glad you were just pretending…"

"I am serious though, Rin-dono." He looked at me with fierce intensity. "Why would you hurt Nerine-chan so much? When has she ever wavered in her loyalty to you?"

"I…was momentarily stupid," I said. Did he not care about Bark's murder? "I was wrong."

"Of COURSE you were. IS there anyone more simultaneously sweet and sexy than my daughter in reality?" he shouted to the ceiling.

I didn't even have to think twice to answer truthfully, "No, she's perfect."

He rolled his eyes and patted my flabby shoulder. "Well, at least you understand that NOW, but it's too late; she's gone, and you are the cause, make no mistake."

"I…want to help find her, if possible," I croaked.

"I'm glad to hear it. Saves me the trouble of begging you," he chuckled. "Surely if she'll respond to anyone, it's you, since you're her idol and the reason for her depression."

"So…now what?"

Forbesii stroked his chin. "Are you able to move around in your condition?"

"No, not very well, at least."

"I see. And what, uh, is the cause of this…affliction?"

I took a deep breath in order to get as many words out as possible. "The Hammer of the Void, who goes by Madam Moonbite, is taking over my body to…"

Forbesii spewed spit all over me in surprise. "WHAT? You know Madam Moonbite?"

I nodded. "Much more than I'd like to."

"Yes, she does have that effect on people, doesn't she?" He wiped the spit off his mouth and looked askance in thought. "You are her vessel, then? And that's why you're rotting?"

"Yes."

"That's absurd! Why would she choose a human? It makes no sense…the portal's only been open for ten years…"

"Forbesii-sama..."

"Yes, Rin-dono?"

"Is there anything you can do to stop me from rotting into her? Or to control her if she succeeds in taking over my mind?"

"No, I can't do either. In addition, I can't heal the damage done to you so far. The demons don't have that kind of magic." His eye was glimmering with cleverness, though. He had to have something up his sleeve.

"But...?" I sighed from the effort of speaking.

He walked over to my face and leaned in, chuckling. "There is one thing I can do. We can make…a deal."

I raised an eyebrow. "How is a deal going to fix this?"

"You'll see. First, let us lay out the terms." He cleared his throat. "You must agree to the following: You will find Nerine-chan or die trying."

"I will."

"Once you do, you will propose to her and never retract your marriage."

That one could be problematic. What about containing Moonbite? If it meant fixing things with Nerine, though, maybe it would be worth it.

"I will do it."

"You can NEVER divorce her. Do you understand me?" Forbesii said, a dark aura surrounding his features.

"Yes," I wheezed out, licking one of my several mouth-tentacles out of the way.

"Good. Lastly, to the best of your ability, you will never hurt her again."

"I will not hurt her again."

The darkness left the area, and his countenance became happy-go-lucky again. "You are such an agreeable kid. You'll make a fine, wise King!"

"Forbesii-sama…what about the Moonbite issue?"

"I'm getting to that. BUTLER!" he summoned loudly, and a dark-haired demon teleported into the chamber with us, armed with a tray of tea.

"Yes, Master? Would you like some refreshments?"

"Of course, my good man."

As the butler adeptly balanced the tray on one knee while pouring tea cups for us, Forbesii turned to me and murmured, "What do you think of him?"

"Wwwwwhat do I think of him, how?"

"Looks-wise. Is he attractive to you?"

"Ummmm…" Weirded out, I swiveled my head to look at the butler. "I'm not sure what you're getting at, but I suppose he's nice looking, for a guy."

"I'm glad to hear it." Forbesii turned to the butler and stabbed him in the heart with a concealed dagger.

"AHH! What did you do that for?" I screamed in shock.

"I killed him so he'd be dead, as a result," Nerine's dad said, smiling away like he was on a date.

"O…kay?"

"Now then, Rin-dono," he said, dragging his murdered servant towards me by the foot, "there are five pylons of energy that compose the soul. Do you recall them?"

"S-sort of…"

"They are the Doki, the Yume, the Kage, the Hi, and the Yokubo. All each have their separate purposes, and, if you'll remember, yours are each blended with some of Itsuki-kun's."

"Uh-huh."

Forbesii lifted up the dead butler and laid him on top of me, his mouth on mine. "I am currently suspending the pylons of his soul, which are both useless to him, now that he's dead, and in much less damaged condition than yours, being that Moonbite has polluted yours with her powerful black magic."

I moved my face out from under the dead man's. "Are my pylons the reason for her possessing me?"

Forbesii walked to a hidden storage cabinet in the wall and began rummaging through it. "Yes, Rin-dono. Moonbite is very intelligent, so she probably had you killed purposefully, knowing that I would revive you. Her encroachment is only possible on victims whose pylons are already mingled with others'."

He returned to my side, holding a crystal. "Fortunately, now that we now what she's doing, and since you have me on your side, a scientist of remarkable intellect and courage, we can graft the clean parts of your soul pylons onto this butler's pylons, greatly reducing the amount of taint in your soul."

"I thought you said you couldn't stop it…"

"I can't stop it, but I can severely slow its spread. I will merge you with this dead man, and the only thing I ask in return is that you honor the three things you promised me before. Are you ready to begin the procedure?"

"Yes." I was very anxious to halt my rapid genetic deterioration. Even if it meant blending with a dead person.

"I will begin reciting the incantation, then. While I do so, please verbally affirm the promises you made to me concerning Nerine-chan."

Forbesii closed his eyes and began speaking, a heavy purple fog forming above us in the room. I hurriedly began to try and gush out the promises. "I will find Nerine-chan or die in the process. I will ask her to marry me, and once she agrees, I will never go back on that offer. We will wed, and I will treat her as well as possible, as though she were my master and I her slave. I'll never mistreat her again."

Once I'd stopped, the purple fog had turned into a deep royal violet, whirling around, following the guidance of Forbesii's. Red kanji formed in the air as well, along with small, brilliant flashed of red light throughout the chamber.

"Kiss him, Rin-kun!"

I found the idea extremely horrifying, but I figured my claim to comfort had been long forfeited. Thus, I took a deep breath and planted a quick kiss on the corpse's lips.

Whew, I did it. I kissed a boy. I never want to do that ag-

Forbesii interrupted his incanting again. "No, kiss him deeply, until I'm done."

SHIT. Why couldn't it have been a woman butler? I don't even know the guy's name! This is so not cool.

Nevertheless, I forced myself, wincing the entire time, to bring my lips up to his drooling ones again. Using my tongue to pry open his mouth, I then began to wrestle his dangling, dead tongue with mine. A cloud of deep blackness cocooned around me in my cot almost instantly. I must have been doing it correctly.

I'm not done yet, though. I moaned in revulsion and continued to french kiss the guy. As I endeavored to try to ignore his moustache, I strangely felt my energy begin to return to me. It was working!

Afraid to stop, I breathed through my nose so I could keep going. His blood-mingled saliva continued to stream down my tongue like a chute into my throat.

As I began to feel lighter and strangely happy, I felt his body begin to tighten, his skin thinning and stretching like it was too small. Although we were still covered in darkness, I could feel him falling apart – his hair was falling out, his skin ripping…blood began to spray out onto me from the rips in his skin as he continued to degenerate.

A few moments later, the skin on his face burst off entirely, dumping a waterfall of blood onto my face. I whimpered and kept kissing him. Warm, wet impacts of slime similarly coated the rest of my body, so I assume this happened elsewhere on him, as well.

As his tongue began to feel more like a tiny, twitching twig, drenched in blood and phlegm, I was horrified to feel his eyes explode from inside his shrinking skull, their contents bursting into my own eye sockets.

This was a fucking nightmare.

His blood and muscle continued to run off like spaghetti sauce, and just when I had kissed away the last of his tongue, I realized his head was nothing more than a red skull by this point.

As I stared into the empty eye sockets, the cocoon of darkness disappeared from around us, bathing me in light.

"GAH!" I groaned, squinting. Why was everything so bright? It was like I was on the sun's surface.

"Are you alright, Rin-dono?" I heard Forbesii yell jovially, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

I coughed. "Are we done?" OUCH! Dear gods, my voice sounded freaking loud. What's up with that?

"Yes. The ritual is complete. You are now in much better shape than before."

"Really? Thank the gods," I muttered, sweeping the bloodstained skeleton off me. "You could have warned me about that." I sat up, noticing that I felt extremely light. Huh. The rotting hadn't just stopped – it had completely disappeared! Those souls and crystals that Forbesii wielded were fucking powerful!

I was still wearing the hospital gown, and was completely covered in blood and organs, but underneath all of it, it seemed that everything was as solid and shapely as ever. I stuck my hand down to my crotch to jostle my equipment, and I was hugely relieved to feel them not rotten or detached like they had been earlier.

"I am, once again, ALIVE!" I exclaimed, jumping up and throwing both blood-drenched fists in the air. "WOOHOO! Thank you, Forbesii-sama!" OW! Why are my ears so sensitive, though?

Forbesii approached, looking quite proud. "I didn't know if it could be done, for certain, but it has been a success. Rin-dono, look in this mirror." He held me a hand mirror.

"Gladly," I said, eager to look at myself not being rotten. As I squinted through the brightness, though, I suddenly realized something shocking – I had two eyes again! It was a miracle! Sure, I had to commit an unspeakable moral crime to get the other one back, but, you know…it's probably best not to dwell on it.

Once I managed to get a good look at myself in the mirror, through the brightness and drops of blood, I was stunned to see two extremely long, pointed ears extending away from my face. Other than that, I looked exactly the same. But…demon ears. What was that about?

"Forbesii-sama, are these a side effect?" I asked him, touching my now-extremely-long ears. Wow, they're fucking sensitive! Jeez! Like a couple of testicles!

He took the mirror back and smiled at me kindly. "You struck a deal with me. As much as I like you, Rin-sama, I needed some way to be absolutely certain you'd keep your end of the bargain."

"…And?"

"Well, as you may know, a demon cannot act in any way contrary to my commandments, as king of all devils. This is…insurance, if you will, that you will uphold your end of the bargain."

I momentarily forgot how to speak, but afterwards said, "I'm a…demon? I'm a demon, now?"

"Yup! Any questions?"

"How did this happen?"

"I included it in my incantation, grafting not only your pylons on to his, but also grafting your DNA onto his. This is beneficial to our prevention of Moonbite laying claim to your body as well, since demons have a natural resistance to black magic. Rest assured, you are still Rin-kun, with all your memories and feelings and fears…you are now merely a demon as well. No biggie."

I gaped my mouth open at him. "Is there that little of a difference between humans and demons?"

"Of course they're similar! After all, I've fucked hundreds of humans, all consensual, of course, and they all bore me healthy bastard children! We'd have to be fairly genetically similar for our sperm and eggs to be so compatible with each other."

"I-I…"

"Granted, a demon's senses are much potent than a human's. They also have increased athletic ability, although I think you'll have to practice in order to tap into that added potential, Rin-dono."

"That…is cool, I guess…" I really wish he would have told me about this before he did the procedure. Naturally, though, this is still preferable to being a pile of moss and fungus like before, so I'm not too pissed about it.

"Let's see…oh! A demon has a much higher sex drive than the other two races, especially in regards to other female demons."

"…Okay, I think I can handle it," I said confidently. I've been repressing my sex drive for years, after all.

"Oh, I bet you will!" He winked. "Lastly, some demons can use offensive magic. I have the most powerful magic out of any demon, of course. You, unfortunately, share the magical abilities with the butler you merged with…which are pretty pathetic."

"That's cool," I said nervously, "I think I'd probably accidentally fry myself if I had any kind of magic to speak of."

"Now then, would you like to take a quick shower before you emerge in public again?"

Oh yeah, I'm still splattered with organs. "That would be great, heh…"

"Just a moment, then," he said, snapping his fingers and saying something in the demon language. Several maids and servants ran into the room, heads bowed to Forbesii. "What is your will, Your Holiness?" they asked in unison.

Forbesii gestured to me, filling me with anxiety in doing so. "This is our future king, and my heir to the throne!"

Following a brief, shocked gasp, the thirty-something young women all bowed to me. "Praise be to your health and safe ascension!" they once again said in unison.

I gulped and waved, very conscious of the fact that every inch of me was covered in the blood of their former boss. "Thank you, I'm…happy to represent you."

"He'll get used to it," Forbesii said in a stage whisper, and all the maids snickered at me and my apparent incompetence. I twiddled my thumbs and waited for Forbesii to tell me what to do next.

"He needs to be cleaned. Girls, form a pathway for us to the shower hall, so he doesn't dirty the floors."

"Yes, Your Holiness!" the girls all said, obediently lying down like sardines, making a carpet pathway made entirely out of cute young womens' bodies. I momentarily wondered how many of them Forbesii had raped so far, but then realized that they probably would consider it an honor and thus concluded that he had fucked all of them.

"Well, follow me!" Forbesii said, grinning widely to me and stepping onto the pathway. One by one, he walked down the pathway by stepping on every single girl's breasts.

This was by far the strangest thing I had ever heard of.

"I…don't really feel comfortable doing this…" I said. It was true. I was shaking from my unease.

"Psh, nonsense!" Forbesii said, not stopping his progress. "If it's the blood you're worried about getting on them, then never mind it! It's easily washed off."

That wasn't exactly the problem, but I suddenly felt a powerful surge in my instincts to follow Forbesii's order. I guess this is what it meant to be a demon.

"I'm sorry about this," I whispered to the first girl, stepping lightly on her ample bosom.

"Mmm!" she moaned, her lips parting with strands of saliva between them. At the same time, I got a seemingly spontaneous erection. Damn…these instincts really ARE much stronger than usual for me.

I gulped and stepped to the next girl's chest, which resulted in me putting all my weight on both of them. They both hissed lightly, squinting their eyes shut.

Damn. I'm so hard now, and since I'm just wearing a robe, EVERYONE is going to know. I suppose it's a compliment to them, though, so hopefully they won't take offense.

So I continued to follow Forbesii on the path of women, hating myself more and more with each step.

* * *

Many treaded nipples later, I finally made it to the shower and bathed myself, afterwards donning a royal demon robe that the maid who was attending my shower provided for me. I returned to the audience chamber, where several maids were disposing of the corpse and all the blood.

"Ah, Rin-dono! How was your shower? Refreshing, I hope!" Forbesii said, marching towards me, smelling of sex.

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Well, it's great to have you on our side now, my son."

"It's an honor that I don't deserve, I assure you. Anyway, I did have one more question, which I'm hesitant to even bring up."

"Go ahead! You cannot act against me anymore, remember?"

"Right…okay, um…wait, what about Bark-kun's murder? He was the reason I was arrested, right?"

"Oh, him? PSSSH…sure, he was from a powerful family, and there's blood and riot in the streets because of his death, but, hey! When you find Nerine and wed her, all that murder and stuff will be but an unpleasant memory."

"Is it really alright?"

"Of course! He was an asshole anyway! I never cared much for his clan of demons, you know, just between you and me."

"Ah, I see," I said, nodding and blushing when a maid walked by and blew a kiss to me.

"So, before you can set out to go find my daughter, you'll need to get the proper paperwork and identification in order to access the portal to the demon world."

"Oh, is that where you think she might be?"

"Yes…our one, sole sighting of her came in yesterday, on the continent of Osiria. I've already sent troops there, but they can find no trace of her. Perhaps you'll have better luck."

I bowed. "I'll see what I can do, Forbesii-sama."

"So, just hang tight and go say goodbye to your friends while I take care of the work for you. Come by first thing in the morning tomorrow, alright? You'll be ready to go by then."

"Alright. Is it okay if I invite some people to come help?"

"If you think they would be valuable, then, by all means! Only one person in the group needs to have the license in order for them all to travel with you."

"Great! I'll go, then."

"One more thing, Rin-dono; you won't be able to stay here overnight until you bring back Nerine-chan. Is that understood? Only people who are family to me are permitted to sleep in this mansion."

"But what about all these maids?" I said, gesturing at all the girls whose breasts I had recently stepped on.

"Oh, they just work here and have sex with me." Apparently I was right in my guess. "If anyone outside the family sleeps here, their souls will detonate. As a safety precaution, you understand."

"Gotcha. That seems kind of inconvenient, though, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but better safe than sorry. Rest well, though; I need you to be at your full capacity for your journey tomorrow."

"Right. See ya!"

I waved goodbye to him and all the maids before exiting the mansion. The outdoor sun hit me like a slap in the face, my eyesight was so much sharper now. I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself now that I was out of that chaos. What am I even doing, now? Why am I going after Nerine when I have to secure a relationship with Sia in order to restore peace to the realm?

I guess saving Nerine is the only way I can still make choice of my own, for the time being, based on my own feelings of guilt and affection for her. It's my fault that she fled, and I do love her…that's the reason I came to Forbesii's house. Especially now that my rotting has apparently died down, I'll have more time, anyway.

I have to be careful from here on in, though; outside forces are starting to dictate everything I do. I must be careful to act not only in the best interest of all of society, but also with care and respect to the girls I love. Because if I stop doing that, then what is all this worth, anyway? I must fix things with Nerine, Sia, and Sakura if at all possible; they're the three I truly love, I believe. And, because of my own uselessness, they're simultaneously the three I've hurt the most out of everyone I've wronged. So first I'll start with Nerine.

Now then, on the practical side of things; who should I seek to bring on this trip? It seems that Matsuri could be helpful, since she at least practices fencing. The thought of her makes me a little uncomfortable, now that I now that in the distant future she'll look like Madam Moonbite, but I think she's a definite person to include. Primula would also be useful, since she's extremely powerful and loyal.

Let's see…any god at all would be nice to bring along, in case one of us got hurt. So my options in that category are pretty much Kareha, Tsubomi, or Daisy…although Daisy would be an extreme last resort. I could just ask Tsubomi and Itsuki both to join us, since he's a history expert and probably knows more about the demon realm than Forbesii himself.

Cool, so that's four people, with Kareha as an extra possibility. Is that enough?

I pondered and decided that that would probably be sufficient. Someone who knew Nerine well would be helpful, but Sia was her only close friend here, and she's back at her palace at the moment, so I don't think that's a feasible option right away. We can always try to recruit her if we need to…which would also be great so I could hopefully start convincing her to give me another shot.

Hmm…okay, so my next problem is where to stay for tonight. Since I was still standing on Forbesii's doorstep, my eyes automatically swayed over to Kaede's house. Ugh, that place…the very thought of it makes me shake with dread and hate. It can't be healthy for me to live there anymore, even with the knowledge that Madam Moonbite was using Kaede all along. I should pity her, I suppose, but unfortunately I think I've used up all I can give her in that category. Besides, Moonbite's been harassing me to butcher Kaede, and I've resisted the impulse so far – Kaede could not, so she's not completely inexcusable. She is an idiot and a monster. I don't care what happens to her.

As I took a few steps away from Forbesii's, I realized that the dagger that Moonbite lent me was still over there. She said that only I could touch it without being destroyed, since Moonbite and I are somewhat the same now…although I don't even know how true that is since Forbesii's treatment. So Kaede might already be dead…I don't think I would be too concerned if that was the case. On the other hand, that weapon could come in REALLY handy on my journey to find Nerine, so I probably should go get it.

I sighed, reluctantly changing course to approach my old home. There couldn't be any sending someone to go get it, unfortunately. Some part of me was still tender for Kaede, too, although I couldn't really feel it at the moment…perhaps that was why I was mildly concerned for her well-being.

A few foreboding seconds later, I arrived at the door. As I tried to summon up the courage to knock with my shaking fist, I heard a familiar voice murmur, from my right, "You're clever indeed, Rin-kun."

I jumped and looked to see Matsuri…or Moonbite…standing next to me in the nude. Most likely Moonbite.

"It seems that my amazing plan's chance of success has been lowered from 100% to about 99," she said with my friend's voice. "How very interesting. I'm not too concerned, though, since it gives me more time to fuck around with you!"

"Good morning, Moonbite," I said, my teeth chattering uncontrollably. "I'm actually a little busy right now, so, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, my darling, sexy Rin-kun, why are you pushing me away? What I have to tell you may actually be in your best interest."

I sighed and banged my head on the door.

"Coming!" Kaede's muffled voice came from inside, causing my blood to run alternately cold and hot with rage and insecurity.

"You see?" Moonbite continued. "What you're experiencing now is what I was about to explain to you. I have established what I call a "rage link" from you to Little Miss Bondage in there. The longer you're in her proximity, and interact with her, your willpower to suppress your transformation will be cancelled due to your unavoidable fucking rage. Get it? You'll just be working against your goal by thinking or speaking with her."

I blinked at Moonbite dumbly, but I realized she was telling the truth. My mind was alight with red fury and pounding drums of anxiety. That shouldn't have been too natural. "Go away," I whispered. "I'll handle it anyway."

"Eh, I give you five seconds before you fuck her and rip out most of her organs," Moonbite winked at me. She slapped my ass and disappeared completely, just as the door creaked open.

"Hello?" I heard Kaede say. I felt my internal processes halt, my robed body burning with directionless anger. I slowly looked up at my old adversary. She was dressed in light silk pajamas, her hair unkempt and eyes sunken. "Rin-kun?" she gasped, her arm hanging limply in the air towards me.

All my brittle self-control dissipated instantly. "How DARE you say my name, you fucking whore!" I growled, grabbing her arm violently and wrenching it downwards.

Kaede cried out in pain, tears bubbling in her broken eyes.

Oh my god, what am I doing?

I quickly dropped her arm and turned completely around in an effort to control myself. "May I…come in?" I in a voice so deep it sounded like Eustoma's if he were a little mentally imbalanced.

"Y-yes," she said instantly. "Come on in."

I was relieved that she was still being civil, but now more nervous than ever before…I'd soon have to be in the same room with her! Oh gods…

"Alright," I finally assented, whirling back towards her and rushing in, our sweaty bodies bumping as I slammed the door shut behind me.

"I'm so glad you're alive, Rin-kun. You look so much better than when you were in a coma!" Kaede said in a tiny, hiccupping voice. "But, you're a demon…"

"WHAT? You were watching me while I was ASLEEP THAT WHOLE TIME?" I bellowed, grabbing both of her puny shoulders and lifting her up by them. "What the fuck were you doing to me?" I squeezed her frail shoulder blades, intent on making them crack.

"I didn't…I didn't do anything!" she said, her face contorted with obvious despair, which I found delicious. "I just wanted to protect you!"

"Oh, protect me? PROTECT me? Of COURSE! So that's what you've been doing all these years!"

"Rin-kun, I love you," she wept.

I glared at her for a moment, our gazes locked. "You don't have the RIGHT." After a moment, I realized I was still holding her up, so I quickly threw her on the couch.

She pushed herself up off her back, meeting my eyes again. "You're a lot more violent than before. My offer still holds, you know."

"What OFFER?" I sneered.

"You can…take out whatever you want on me. I don't mind. It's only fair. If it will help you…I want you to pour out all your rage and hate and violence on me."

My body shook in place as I stared at my hands. She was right. I'd very nearly broken my oath to not harm her. But it wasn't because I wanted to…it was because I could barely hold back anymore. Moonbite's fucking rage link or whatever…

"What's going to help me, Kaede-chan," I said, my voice still venomous, "is never seeing you, ever again."

"I can't live without you, Rin-kun. I…BEG you to beat me! Please! I can't even imagine living without you here…"

"You had PLENTY of chances to say that for the last nine years!" I roared, slobber gushing from my lips. "You don't deserve anything from me, and you know it! I could care less if you kill yourself now."

"Rin-kun…" she whispered, staring at me, then at the floor. "What did you come here for, then, if not for revenge?"

"I'm not you, you forget!" I sneered again, walking over and sitting right next to her on the couch. Somehow, she suddenly seemed very sexually appealing. I'd have to refrain from acting on those urges though, if I wanted to keep my distance from her. "I'm looking for a fucking blade or some shit. It's black. I killed Bark-kun with it. You know what I'm talking about, slut?" Damn it…I CANNOT keep my eyes off her breasts and crotch. Hopefully she won't notice… It's kind of scary how much I want to rip her clothes off right now.

"I…" she said, looking at me, wide-eyed. "I'm not sure…I haven't gone back in that room since you left."

"That would explain why you're not dead then."

"What do you mean?"

"It's fucking Moonbite's blade, you idiot! Only she can wield it…and me too…or something. I hope, at least."

"What are you talking about?" she hissed, standing straight up and blanching to a deep gray. Her eyes seemed to change a bit. "How do you know that name?"

"I'm her, like, vessel, or something! Fuck! I don't know why I'm even telling this to you in the first place," I said, getting up alongside her.

"What happens if someone who's not her touches it?"

"I guess they die or something, how the fuck am I supposed to know?"

Kaede shrugged. "I just don't want you to get her."

"That is RICH coming from your filthy whore mouth."

"I am a whore, and a monster, Rin-kun. You are completely correct."

Something in her voice set me off, and I tackled her back down to the couch, desperately making out with her and ripping into the skin of her back with my fingernails. I could feel her blood on my hands…her bodily fluids, that I've always wanted to coat me…I'm finally breaking her open!

She moaned into my mouth and reached down my robe, gently caressing my extremely erect dick.

Giving into my urges, I moaned back and brought my blood-covered fingers shakily to her barely-contained bosom and ripped the silk wide open. Her creamy, scarred tits came bouncing out.

"I can't stop," I told her shakily as our lips parted for breath.

"Please, for the love of the gods, don't!" she whispered.

That was all the encouragement I needed. I cupped and kneaded her breasts as I kissed and sucked on her neck. Her hands were making my cock more alive than it had ever felt before, maybe from the demon senses?

Everything was new…all my rage had been replaced by quickly mounting pleasure. I had no desire to do this in my head, but my body, well…that was a different story.

This…wasn't supposed to happen.

Kaede cried out, in a mix of joy and arousal this time. I slid her hands from her perky breasts down to her soggy silk sleeping shorts.

"YES, PLEASE!" Kaede gasped.

After stroking her butt and lightly fingering her gaping crotch, I screwed her legs straight up in the air and pulled off the soaked pajamas, giving me a clear view of her amazing lower regions.

She shakily let go of my dick and put her arms around my head. "Rin-kun…don't hold back…"

Just as I was about to stick my dick into her crotch, Nerine's face jumped into my mind, as well as Sia and Sakura's. I couldn't betray them…anymore…even with Moonbite's meddling, it would be inexcusable to sleep around on them. I HAVE to start controlling myself!

"What's wrong?" Kaede whispered, staring at me worriedly.

"STOP, STOP, STOP!" I said, getting off of her in a jerky motion. "I'm sorry, Kaede-chan, I didn't mean it. Moonbite's done something to me, it's really hard for me to control ANY impulse around you now."

Kaede stared at me in disbelief, then back at my fully erect dick for a while, and then back up at me. Finally, she let out a shaky breath and said, "I know, I know. I understand exactly what you mean, Rin-kun." She smiled sensually at me and started fingering herself in a way that didn't help my boner. "She's been controlling me for much longer than she has you, you know. Just go with it, I can take it. No one else will understand what you're feeling but me."

I paused, trying to not look at her fist plunging in and out of her crotch. "You're right. About the understanding part, I mean. But, you don't get it, Moonbite is trying to take over me, I…" I looked at my new demon hands, and was horrified to see some moss already developing on the back of my right one. "SHIT! She was right! I'm still turning into her!"

"WHAT? Do you mean, turning EXACTLY into her?"

"Yes, and being around you makes it happen faster."

"Is that why you look like a demon now?"

"Well, yeah, indirectly. I don't know." I exhaled sharply. "Kaede-chan, for what it's worth, I'm sorry…I overreacted a couple weeks ago, when I found you with Bark-kun." My rage soared again as I thought about it. "And I've been treating you horribly today, too, but please understand, I have to just get the fucking blade and then leave...ALRIGHT? Or else I'll fall even more into Moonbite."

"I understand now," she said, walking forwards and hugging me with her damned sexy naked body. I clenched my teeth so I could resist the urge to start savagely beating her. "And you'll never need to apologize to me, again, Rin-kun. I deserve everything." She pulled away and smiled at me. It infuriated me to see her so happy.

"I'm sorry about the, um…fore…play, too…" I murmured shakily.

Her expression darkened slightly. "I'm sorry about it, too." Her face screwed up in a scary attempt at a smile. "Come on, let's go and find that blade!"

She took off to lead me, but I grabbed her by one of her extremely sexy butt cheeks and growled as she cried out in arousal, "Me first." I didn't want to have to look at her the whole way up, after all. I might start fucking her again.

I ran upstairs, pissed that Kaede was following me. I wish I hadn't explained everything to her, she probably thinks she's my partner or something now, the dumb bitch.

We walked into the room. Decaying organs and spilled blood still matted the carpet. The only thing not filthy was the thin black steel of Moonbite's blade, looking up at me.

I stalked over to it and hesitated. I had no idea how Forbesii's treatment might have affected my ownership of it. I suppose if I DID explode, from contact, or, even better, become a deceased spirit or something, then Moonbite WOULD lose her foothold in this world. If it was a mostly physical death, though, she'd win automatically.

"So that's it, huh?" Kaede said, standing across from me, looking at it.

"No, it's my dildo," I snapped.

"And if I touch it, I die?"

"…yeah…" I said, momentarily concerned. To my mounting horror, I saw Kaede's bare toe approach its hilt. "No, DON'T!" I screamed, shoving her away.

I was surprised at my reaction – I guess part of me really did seek to protect her…Kaede seemed quite pleased though. Her face suddenly shone with pure delight that really pissed me off.

"Don't…don't read too much into that, okay?"

Kaede giggled. How dare she? Giggle at MY words? "I'll try!"

"You better," I muttered, stooping down and staring at it. I figured I had a good chance of success, whether the result was my ability to wield it or success so complete that Moonbite could no longer use me as a vessel. "Here I go, Kaede-chan. But, just in case," I said, looking up at her. "In case I die…"

She looked at me, completely alert.

I tried to push aside my rage so I could tell her what was most important. "Everything I said to you under the bridge was NOT a lie. I've always loved you."

"Oh, Rin-kun, I love you too!" she said, blushing scarlet. "Do you wanna have sex first?"

"No," I said shortly, reaching out and grasping the hilt with a random surge of determination.

…I didn't explode.

I stood up, beaming at her. "I'm alive!"

"Congratulations!" she said, clapping excitedly.

"Why are you so fucking happy?"

"Well, I love you, like I just said! I'd probably have to kill myself if you died. Especially after you just said that…"

"Would you stop blushing so much? Why are you being so mushy all of a sudden?"

"Don't…"

"WE are NOT FRIENDS, Kaede-chan!" I shouted.

She didn't say anything to that. Finally, some silence.

"I don't want to be on good terms with you right now. I can't handle it. And I hate you," I said.

She sighed. "You're right. We should give each other some space. I'm glad you've confided in me, though."

"I knew that was a bad idea to tell you everything…well, I guess I'm off, then!"

"Wh-where to?" she said, following me out of the Bark corpse room.

"Anywhere but with you."

"I…um. I'll…be thinking of you!" she sounded like she was on the verge of tears again.

I rolled my eyes. We'd now come to the door. "Please realize that everything I say is being filtered through Moonbite's anger, okay? I'm sure we'd be friends…"

"Hopefully more," she piped in.

"Shut up! …if circumstances were different. For now, though…PLEASE, for the love of the gods…leave me alone."

"I…I will," she said, sounding a bit more relieved again. Gods, how I hate her being happy.

"I still think you're a dirty whore, though," I sneered, slamming the door shut behind me and running away as fast as I could.

Could have gone worse, all things considered. I checked my watch.

My friends should be getting their lunch break soon at school. I should go meet them, so we can make plans for tomorrow morning.

I, um…might need to go buy some clothes first. Without being arrested, if at all possible.

* * *

With some small luck, I'd managed to procure one outfit from a wealthy-looking person who mistook me for a beggar as I was approaching the bazaar. Now that I looked slightly less homeless, I nervously entered National Verbena Academy and went to the cafeteria. My jacket had several inner pockets and straps, to which I'd attached my Moonbite blade.

I scanned the room for Itsuki and Matsuri, locating them after a bit. They were eating with Primula (handily for me) and Mayumi (awkwardly for me, since I wasn't planning on inviting her). Oh well. This was my best chance.

"Helloooo, everyone!" I said, in a much better mood now that I'd put that business with Kaede behind me.

They all spun to me with wide eyes. "Rin-kun!" Primula gushed getting up and running to me, arms wide open.

"You're alright!" Matsuri grinned.

"Whoa, you're…a demon! How is that possible?" Itsuki said, blinking.

"Fuck if I know," I shrugged, hugging Primula tightly for a moment (DAMN she smells fantastic to my demon nose) before sitting down next to Mayumi. "But, hey, I'm alive, aren't I?"

"You look a lot hotter now, too," Matsuri said approvingly.

"Not that he needs any more help with getting laid," Itsuki muttered.

"We should have sex!" Primula purred, snuggling with me on the bench.

I patted her on the head and looked at the still-silent Mayumi. "What's up, lovely?"

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Are you still set on going after Nerine and Sia?"

"Yes. They need me."

"No, YOU need them," Mayumi said, not at all supportively.

"Well, yeah, it's kind of a two-way street of need, I think."

"Then why did they leave instead of staying for you, if they needed you so much?" she said, leaning on her elbow as she looked at me steadily. "I'm not so sure they'll come back to you as easily as you seem to think. They're clearly mad at you, if not worse."

"I gave Forbesii-sama my word, alright?" My temper was starting to rise now. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you glad to see I'm alright?"

"If it makes you feel better, then YES, I'm glad." Itsuki and Matsuri goggled at her in apparent shock at her callous attitude. "You're not AT ALL the same person I used to love."

"Well, that's funny. Today, I realized that, before, when I proposed to you, I had just mistaken my feelings of strong friendship for feelings of love for you."

"Is that so?" she said, seeming eerily calm.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure, now that I've gotten a chance to get away from everything and think."

"You're…a MONSTER," she shuddered violently and got up with her lunch tray, her hair dangling in front of her dichromatic eyes.

"And you're the most unsupportive 'friend' ever!" I called. Turning back to the others, I sighed. "I'm sorry, everyone. I'm just at the bare rim of sanity at the moment, now that I've gone through all this shit. There are a LOT of voices that aren't mine in my head now."

"Don't apologize to us, Rin-kun…" Matsuri said, looking sadly at me. "Mayumi has been fantasizing about marrying you for many, many years now, and you've slowly been ripping her heart and dreams apart with everything you've been doing this year."

"I'm aware, Matsuri-kun…there's no excuse for me being such a terrible friend to her, and to all of you." I bowed my head to her and Itsuki. "I swear I'll make things right once things calm down."

"Rin-kun, you haven't done anything wrong, my tasty semen-biscuit," Primula said, stroking my cock through my pants in a way that made my body jerk around unnaturally.

"Yeah, I mean, who am I to judge you?" Itsuki beamed. "We all have our own paths. Yours just happens to be more schizoid than most people's."

Matsuri laughed. "You haven't done me any wrong, so I'm not justified in holding anything against you, either. You've always cut me huge slack for all my weirdness, so I can do the same for you, bro!"

I suddenly felt the urge to cry from happiness.

"Plus, you're fucking hot now!" Primula licked my sensitive demon earlobe, which sent spasms of pleasure through my body.

"Oh, keep it in your PANTS, slut!" Matsuri commanded, to which Primula flipped her off in response.

"Alright, so…there IS a reason why I came to visit you, besides just to saying hi,"

"Uh, can it wait?" Itsuki said, looking at his watch. "Class is about to start again, pretty fucking soon."

"Um…sure…" I said, although I was at a loss for what to do until then. I guess I could go to class. "I guess I wanted Tsubomi-chan to be there, as well."

"Hey, that's MY loli woman! Get your own!" Itsuki glowered at me.

Primula raised her hand. "Guess what? Yeah. I exist."

"Where, um…where should we meet afterwards?" I asked.

Everyone was quiet.

"Uh…I guess we can go to my place…" Matsuri said, her eyes avoiding contact with everyone.

"That would be great, if it's alright," I said gently.

"Y-yeah, it is…"

"Alright, it's decided," Itsuki said. "You coming to class with us?"

"I might as well."

* * *

After a day full of eye-boring stares at my new, inexplicable species change, Primula and I followed Matsuri to her split-level home. I'd never gone to it before; she always seemed a little hesitant to offer it up for group hang out time. Thus, I appreciated even more her offering it up for us to meet in today.

Like my own resolve had diminished upon approaching Kaede's house this morning, however, Matsuri froze entirely as we arrived on her doorstep.

"Matsuri-kun? Is everything alright?" I asked in what I hoped was a comforting voice.

"Th-there's something you should know," she whispered. "My dad…he's…"

"A hermaphrodite as well?" Primula put in.

"Fuck off!" Matsuri hissed, looking quite emotionally vulnerable all of a sudden. "He's abusive. I'm NOT a hermaphrodite."

"Easy, girls," I said coaxingly. "Matsuri-kun, if you don't want to, we don't…"

"Is that your room, up there?" Primula asked, jerking her head up to the second story window.

"Yeah, it is, actually."

"Awright, check this out, slutbuckets," Primula said, her body flashing a brilliant white as she casted an enormous pile of ice in front of the house. She continued to spellcast for quite awhile after it appeared, although I couldn't tell what she was doing. After she returned to her normal brightness, and I caught her when her legs gave out, I realized that she had carved the ice into a rigid staircase leading up to Matsuri's window.

"Wow!" Matsuri breathed.

"That was incredible, Primu-chan!" I said encouragingly to her.

"I've been practicing," she said, beaming brightly. "Are you impressed?"

"To put it mildly," I laughed, hugging her tightly from behind. "Um…lead the way, I guess, Matsuri-kun!"

"R-right," she blushed, climbing up in front of us. I assisted Primula up her steps as well; the spell seemed to take a lot of energy out of her.

When we stepped inside, we were in for another surprise – every square inch of Matsuri's walls were decked out with enlarged photos of Asa Shigure. They weren't provocative photos at all…but there was something a little unsettling about having that many Asa's being plastered on a high school girl's bedroom walls.

"Um…I don't know what to say…" I said, quite honestly.

"Oh? About what?" Matsuri said, smiling sweetly as she undid her hair, allowing it to flow freely down her back.

Primula cleared her throat. "Do you…have…an interest in…um…photography, perhaps?"

"Huh? No, no, I don't even own a camera!" Matsuri grinned. "Thanks so much for helping me get up here, past my dad, Primu-chan!"

"You know, I, uh, I do what I can. Heheh…" she muttered, squeezing her hands together. "I'm scared, Rin-kun," she whispered to me.

"Me too," I replied.

The three of us stood in a very awkward silence for a few moments (during which Matsuri seemed quite perplexed), before a high pitched voice came from the window: "HIIIIIIII people!"

"Oh, Tsubomi-chan, thank goodness," I said, letting out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding in. "And Itsuki-kun too!"

"Sorry to keep y'all waiting." Itsuki clambered in. "We got a little frisky on accident, you understand."

"That was a SWEET ice staircase, too! Did you make that, Primu-chan?" Tsubomi exclaimed, smiling brightly at my charge.

"Yeah, I'm basically pretty awesome," Primula sneered.

"Whoa," Itsuki said. He must have noticed all the Asa's on the walls.

"Wow! Who's that girl? She has really hot breasts!" Tsubomi sang enthusiastically about the many photos.

"Oh, Asa-sempai?" Matsuri gasped with gigantic excitement. "I KNOW! I LOVE her tits! They're just so incredible!"

Primula coughed loudly. I sneezed.

"Wow, she was a cute little kid," Itsuki said, pointing at one of Asa when she would have had to be in middle school or less.

"Oh, you have NO idea. She's so incredibly adorable!" Matsuri gushed with a small scream of ecstasy.

"Yeah, she's pretty awesome," I said loudly. "However, I gathered you all here for a different reason than…well, I gathered you here to propose a, um…joint mission…for…all of us."

"That was a tactful subject change," Primula murmured, squeezing my hand.

"I'd like to take us all to the demon realm."

"Ew, sick!" Tsubomi gagged.

"Not as a vacation trip," I continued, "but in order to find the princess of the demons, whom most of us know personally. She has gone missing, and her father and all of his forces are completely unable to locate her at the moment. I promised to help him find her, in exchange for my good health. Otherwise, I'd be long dead by now. And I intend to honor that promise."

"Very good," Itsuki said.

"Here, here!" Matsuri cheered.

"So, as far as I know, you four are the only people I want to bring with me on this mission. To start, Itsuki-kun, you know the area better than almost anyone, and your historical knowledge will probably be very helpful as well."

He nodded.

"Tsubomi-chan, I'd be thrilled if you came, as well, so you could bestow us with your healing powers if the need arose."

She winked at me. "No problem!"

"Primu-chan, as you said before, you're pretty much awesome, especially when it comes to magic. Also, it might come in handy if we have another demon in our group besides just myself, in case we run into any kind of bigotry or something."

"I'll never leave your side. Ever." Primula promised, her eyes not leaving my face.

"Th-that's good. And, um, Matsuri-kun, you're an accomplished swordswoman, right? I was hoping maybe you could lend us your assistance with the blade."

"I would be happy to, Rin-kun. And, if I could just make one suggestion…"

"Sure, go ahead…"

She giggled. "Would it be alright if Asa-sempai came, too? She's a really great chef, after all."

"Well…I suppose it could be nice to have someone else be in charge of meals, especially since I'll probably be preoccupied with the search and stuff. I guess that's a good idea," I said, suppressing a smirk. "But don't get too distracted by her presence, alright?"

"That won't be a problem!"

"Are you sure?" Primula asked, her eyes narrowing mischievously. "You don't seem to be especially clear-headed when it comes to Greenie."

"Do you have some sort of problem with Sempai coming along?" Matsuri demanded.

"If it means I'm going to have to be watching all our backs cuz you're too busy staring at her asshole, then, yes, I have a problem with her coming along, as a matter of fact!" Primula grinned.

Matsuri blushed an extremely deep red. "I, um…who here likes Asa-sempai?"

I raised my hand, along with Itsuki, Tsubomi, and Matsuri herself, of course.

Primula shrugged. "Well, maybe it's just me, but I think she's a whiny, annoying…"

"You are getting DANGEROUSLY close to my last nerve, slut," Matsuri bellowed.

"And YOU are getting dangerously close to not having a vagina!" Primula grinned.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Matsuri screamed.

"QUIET!" I yelled over them. "Okay…we can extend an invitation to Asa-sempai, alright? Sorry, Primu-chan, you're outvoted on this one."

Primula shrugged. "You're the boss, sexy-butt."

"Oh, his ass IS sexy, isn't it?" Tsubomi gasped.

"Oh, is that his secret?" Itsuki wondered.

"Is it really?" I said, looking over my shoulder in curiosity. "I wonder if that's why Moonbite…um, ah, never mind. SO! Any questions?"

Matsuri raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Where and when are we gonna meet?"

"How about 8:00 in the morning, at the World Gate. Everyone knows how to get there, right?"

"8:00, World Gate. Got it!" Daisy sang from the window.

"Alright, good, anyone el…..WHOA, WAIT! When did you get there?" I screamed, pointing my finger at the violet-haired god.

"Just now, faggot," she said, climbing in. "I basically just overheard everything you said, that's all."

"Well, it's not like we said anything illeg…" Tsubomi began

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING CUNT HOLE!" Daisy screamed at Itsuki's fiancée, who stared back in shocked horror. Daisy strutted past me, waving a manilla folder in front of Matsuri's face. "Guess what's in here, dick-breath?"

"Oh, are you serious?" Matsuri said, her face brightening up.

"You two are…friends?" I said, an eyebrow quirked.

"You are a pedophilic buttfucker," Daisy informed me. "Now, Matsuri-kun, this is a SPECIAL shipment…I've even got some nip-slips in there for you."

"OH my GODS!" Matsuri gasped.

Primula, Itsuki, Tsubomi and I looked at each other in confusion. "Um…what's going on here, Daisy-chan?" Itsuki asked her.

"Dude, me and Matsuri have an agreement. I take pictures of our mutual green-haired sempai, at a variety of angles that one can only attain if they are a master of the art of photography. I then develop them, and give them to Matsuri, who mastur…"

"NO! Don't say it!" Matsuri gasped, covering up Daisy's mouth in panic.

"Um, you're a little late there, Matsuri-sempai," Tsubomi said.

"Not like it wasn't obvious in the first place," Primula muttered.

"Man, this is gonna be an awesome trip! I'm so excited!" Itsuki said, pumping his fist in the air to prove it.

"SHUT UP, YOU DICK-HUNGRY BITCHES!" Daisy roared at everyone in the room but Matsuri. "Alright, so these are yours for free, on one condition."

Matsuri looked at her uncertainly. "Yes…?"

Daisy smiled wryly, her eyes flashing a sinister red. "Let me come with y'all to the demon realm. I've got some business to attend to, of my own, there. And safety in numbers, and all that. Especially coupled with the fact that only demons or government-cleared bitches can use the dimensional gate. Ya got me?"

I groaned. "Are we really doing this?"

"Watch your tone, Johnny Jailbait!" Daisy hissed. "It's Matsuri-kun's call."

I growled at her, "It's MY mission. It was assigned to me by…"

"Do you REALLY want to part with your testicles this much? Again?"

Itsuki and Primula balked in place. "Again?" Itsuki screeched.

Daisy blinked at them innocently. "Well, yeah. I cut off your boy here's testicles with scissors the last time I saw him. He tricked me into healing them though, unfortun…"

"You FUCK! You fucking piece of ass-dripping SHIT! I'm going to IMPALE your face to your stomach!" Primula barked, giant ice spikes appearing out of her arms.

"Yes! I've decided," Matsuri spoke up, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. "You…you can come with us…just…just give me the pictures!" she begged Daisy.

"WHAT?" Tsubomi screamed. Primula seemed too rabid to even speak.

"Alright, here ya go!" Daisy grinned, handing them over. "There's a LOT more of Asa-sempai in there than anyone has ever seen before. Even I got a little wet over them."

We'll NEVER find Nerine now…

* * *

**A****/****N**** – **That was fun to write! A shame it took so incredibly long to do so. Ah, well…

Next chapter, the Demon Realm! What's Daisy's hidden agenda? What's been keeping Nerine all this time? Will Kaede EVER get a chance to work things out with Rin? Find out next time on Moonbite!

Please let me know what you thought! Was it too unserious? Is everyone still in-character (in-character for this story, that is)? Is Rin being too much of a total dick? Anything you liked or disliked is extremely helpful. =)


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Hello, loyal Moonbite veterans and newcomers alike!

It is to my great amusement that the summary I supplied a couple years ago for this story, as it appears on the main search page, is no longer applicable to the current events of the story in the slightest. To celebrate the extremely dense amount of occurrences in Moonbite, I'm going to start off with something a little different from usual: a general summary of past events. Here goes!

Kaede has tortured Rin for eight years preceding the events of the story, and continued to do it regularly until his death by impalement on a construction spike.

After Forbesii resurrected Rin using the Obsidian-D DNA fragment, a process which also combined Rin's soul with a portion of Itsuki's, Rin's extreme gynophobia dissipated.

During this time, Kaede had been regularly tormented and haunted by a semi-corporeal Demon spirit who calls herself Madam Moonbite. Moonbite's intentions have only recently been revealed - apparently being to possess Rin's body by turning him into a literal carbon copy of her. Every manipulation of Kaede and Rin up to this point was to that end, according to the Divine Scionness.

After Rin's resurrection, several women confessed their love to him: Sia, Nerine, Sakura, Asa, Primula, and Mayumi all unveiled their feelings. Rin eventually discovered that the culture of the god race favors polygamy, and assented to a marriage with multiple wives after they all expressed their willingness to participate in it.

He found himself unable to capitulate on this promise, however, when he thereafter realized that he cared about Kaede more than any of them…she was the one his heart truly loved. As a result, he attempted to do the right thing by dumping them all for her, but then misunderstood the demon Bark's rape of Kaede as her personal betrayal of the sacrificial peace he'd offered their friendship and fledgling relationship. Bark was actually on orders from Moonbite.

An emotionally devastated and suicidal Rin was then raped by Moonbite, who took the opportunity to establish an incredibly potent disease in his body that would slowly deform him until he literally became her exact double, at which point her personality would replace his.

After the rape, he fell into a coma, during which the disease developed to a point where Rin was no longer recognizable as a person. Forbesii conducted another soul-melding procedure, this time bonding a young demon male's body and soul to Rin, to halt the process.

In return, Rin has made an unbreakable promise with Forbesii that he will track down the missing princess Nerine and propose to her.

Whew! That takes us up to date, I think! Any questions? =P

Now – on to the theater!

* * *

**Shuffle!**

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 16**

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

I struggled over Bark's smeared, dry blood, finally attempting to scrape it away. I had a reason to, now; Rin was alive! And healthy, although I barely believed it. Not only that, but our last interaction had, from a certain perspective, been mostly positive! Yay!

I didn't know if it meant that I could have any sort of future with him. He seemed really mixed up and disconnected. But I think I've seen his true heart – he is still good, and he still does care for me. I saw how freaked out he got when he thought I might die. Just remembering that fills me with roaring warmth.

I sighed and continued my amateur cleaning up of Bark's splattered self. I now didn't have any reason to keep it as a reminder of how I'd failed…failed to live up to Rin's offer of peace…

I'm now still alone, still suffocating, but at least Moonbite has finally left me. For Rin apparently. He deserves it, of course. I only hope he feels similar pain to what I've gone through all this time. And yet, I felt so warm and delighted when he was looking at me, forcing himself on me, and even when he was yelling at me. I loved it…

He's obviously not fit for a princess. There's only one person who can match how twisted he is: me. Me and him are the only two people who should get together, in this entire fucked–up world.

"Stupid Rin-kun," I growled, chipping away at the browned blood with my fingernails. "If you were going to leave so easily, why'd you bother even giving me a chance anyway? You and I both know I don't do so well with rules! If you really fucking loved me, you'd have loved me for all my flaws, too, especially since that's all you know about me."

The phone rang.

"Fucking shit!" I snarled, stomping over to pick up the receiver, my hands still filthy. "Hello?"

"Kaede-chan! Good evening! How are you?" It was Daisy, sounding as thrilled as ever to be speaking to me. I quickly removed any trace of malevolence from my voice.

"Couldn't be better! So? How did things go?" She better have something to report.

"Yeah, so, you'll be so proud of me!"

"Really? Dish, you skank!" I chirped as pleasantly as I could.

"I followed them, and overheard everything they said!"

"Who is 'them'?"

"Oh, just Rin-kun and his buttfucking little circle of cancer patients."

"I see." My heart hissed icily. I kind of wanted to be in a buttfucking little circle of cancer patients, as long as Rin was one of them.

"But yeah, so, they're going to the Demon Realm to look for that one whorish princess, the one with the gigantic…"

"Nerine-chan, right?"

"Yup! Rin-kun is bringing that nerdy perv, the two jailbaits, the tranny, and grass-crotch, and they're all leaving at 8-something in the morning. And, guess what! You'll be so proud of me!" she giggled. "I forced them to take me with them! That way I can report back on everything, firsthand!"

"No way! That's perfect!" I sang. My eyes went to the closet, still full of various equipment that Moonbite had supplied me with. "I have something I'd like you to wear."

"I'll wear _anything_ you want, Kaede-chan, you know that," Daisy said.

"Yes, well…I actually meant I have a _device_ that I'd like you to wear."

"…oh…"

"Yeeeaaaahh. It's a video-radio transmitter that will keep me apprised of everything. That way, I'll also be able to contact Lord Forbesii or someone for assistance in case something happens."

"Oh, sweet! How do you even have something like that?"

"You don't need to worry yourself with that, Daisy-chan. But yeah, please come over, and I'll give you the device."

"Woo, I always love going over to your place! Can we take the bath together now?"

"No, let's wait until after you get back, okay, Daisy-chan?"

"Alright! Sure!" It was WAY too easy to manipulate her all the time. "I'll be over in a little bit."

"Sure, and Daisy-chan…"

"What's up?"

"Please TRY to be as nice as you can to Rin-kun, alright?"

"…what?" she growled.

"It makes me sad to see you get all furious with him all the time." This was actually true, but I was really only asking for Rin's best interest. I wouldn't want my spy to cause him to dislike me any more than he already did. "Please do it for me."

"I don't know…"

"Daisy-chan…"

"But they're SOO retarted! How can I treat any of them with respect, especially after Rin-kun has always mistreated you all these years? And he even had Bark-kun rape me, that bastard!"

"Daisy-chan, I understand that you want vengeance. But, one thing at a time. They're doing a good thing by trying to locate the princess, okay? And…"

"Grrr, okay, okay, fine!" Daisy relented. "But you'd better take an extremely long bath with me after this!"

"Remember, I'll be watching. You'll have my respect if you can pull it off."

"Okay! I won't let you down!" she screamed in excitement.

"Alright. See you in a little bit? We can talk more then."

"Sure, my lover! I'll be right there!" She hung up, dropping me off in my graveyard of a house again.

I put the cordless phone back in its tray, and went back to my favorite pastime - staring at the wall with uncontrollable intensity.

The bugs had gone. They must have all gotten sick of me and left me, just like Rin-kun. He probably won't think of me a single time while he's in the Demon Realm. If he did, I'd be able to see it on the TV with the transmitter. I rather doubted he would, though. He wants to rid himself of everything to do with me.

The thought that I had gotten so far removed from the one person I'd never stopped obsessing over was sickeningly worrisome to me. I felt a violent urge…a strong need…to kill. That would put the purpose of existence back into its proper framework. But, only Rin-kun had killed people before...like my mother, and Bark…that was why I was the better one, right? Yes. I must keep controlling that urge now, even though now, without the person I love being here, there's hardly any remaining reason for me to limit myself in any way.

Moonbite and everyone have abandoned me. I now have nothing to stop my mind from reeling out of control, into the darkness completely.

For a few pulsating minutes, I stared at the wall, listening to the pounding of my head against the silence of the shadows.

"Kaede-chan…" I heard a whisper, from someplace to my left. In one of the dark rooms there. Rin's voice. Had he come back?

"Hello?" I spoke to the emptiness, my voice muffled and dry.

"Come here…" His voice spoke at the same speed as Moonbite's, but it had Rin's exact timbre.

"Rin-kun, I…" I approached the total darkness, but stopped. It was too thick to see through, and my shaking body seemed to reject the idea of entering it. "I don't want to go in there…can't you come out?"

"You have no right to leave the darkness, Kaede-chan. You are…a daughter of it." Rin's voice said.

I gulped. "I know I am. I'm not trying to turn away from the darkness. But it's hard."

"Get inside here. NOW!" Rin ordered.

Breathing heavily, and eyes peeled for a visible speck of anything, I felt my way into the recesses of the hall. Vulnerability threatened to swallow me whole.

"Are you in here?" I breathed, my thighs squeezed together in order to contain my very active bladder.

"In the room," the voice rumbled. I felt the depths of his voice vibrate through my chest.

"Okay…" I whispered, my hands finding a doorknob. I opened it. A horrible smell filled my nostrils, ten times more rancid than that of Bark's corpse.

The doorbell rang, abruptly jolting me backwards from the room. The odor dissipated. Thank goodness…I'm saved by the presence of someone else.

Still very unnerved, I jumped down the stairs and sprinted to the door to let Daisy in. "Hey Bitch-Tits!" I sang in release as I swung open the door…

…revealing the face of someone who wasn't Daisy – Sakura. An extremely trashy-looking, grey-skinned, druggy Sakura, to be exact. This was by far the worst I'd seen her look, health-wise.

"Um, sorry!" I yelped out of instinct, despite the fact that I thought Sakura actually was a bitch…with…tits. Yeah.

Sakura glared at me. "Hello, Kaede-chan."

"Not too bad, how bout yourself?" I gave her a fake smile. She looked at me strangely, probably cuz of my odd response. It's alright. Not many people can keep up with my dizzying intellect. "Why'd you come back?" I interrogated.

"Obviously not to talk with you. Is…Rin-kun there?" Saying his name obviously made her nervous. Because she's pathetic, of course.

"Nope. He's gone. Won't be coming back."

"Really?" she brightened. "I guess he finally realized how fucking terrible of a person you are, huh?" She glared again. "What did you do to him?"

"NOTHING, you inbred tramp!" My hostility skyrocketed, but I also knew that I'd rather have her with me than no one at all. I'd had enough of loneliness for these last two terrible weeks.

I cleared my throat. "Listen…you're welcome to come inside, if you want."

"And why…would I want to do that?" she cocked an eyebrow at me.

Man, this was going to be a chore to say without smacking my forehead. "Look; we used to be friends, right? I…could use a friend now. Just saying."

Sakura looked at me like I'd gone completely insane. "I'm only here for Rin-kun. And I'd actually prefer it if you never had another friend again. You don't deserve any."

I backhanded her, hard, across the face. It caused an extremely pleasing slapping sound. "GET INSIDE HERE, NOW!" Fuck, it felt great to scream at a worthless person again.

Sakura sped inside, holding her cheek. I slammed the door shut behind her, my heart rapid-firing.

"We were never friends, Kaede-chan," she said, looking at me with shaking eyes. She was far less strong than she used to be, which is saying something, since she's always been totally unhinged.

"I don't give a shit. I do have some reasons for you to stay, though," I said, walking up to her and folding my arms. "First, Rin-kun is leaving for the Demon World to track down that Princess slut."

"Nerine-chan?" Sakura looked hurt for some reason.

"Yep. See that fucking box over there? Yeah, that's a remote system I'm going to give Daisy-chan here in a couple minutes, so she can wear it while she's traveling with Rin-kun. If you stay here, you can watch with me on the T.V. as she broadcasts everything that's going on."

"B-but, why is he going after Nerine-chan? I was away from him, too…" She sounded deliciously lonely.

"Obviously because he doesn't give a shit about you, that's why. Why would he pick an ugly, lunatic junkie like you over an elegant, beautiful princess?" I laughed. Sakura looked even more despondent. "It's true, I'm not exaggerating. There is nothing attractive about you at all."

She glared at me, but didn't raise a hand or anything, a sure sign that I'd neatly trampled all over her willpower. "He left you, too, you know. And you're fucking nuts, much more than I am."

I flicked her in her eyeball with enough force to make her cry out in alarm. It didn't pop, unfortunately, but hopefully I scratched it a little. "He still chose me over you. So if I'm as bad as you say, then what does that make you?"

The doorbell rang again. "Oh, that must be Daisy-chan," I said pleasantly, patting Sakura on her shoulder. "Why don't you hide so you won't embarrass yourself in front of someone much better than you?"

With a defeated expression, she walked into the next room over, dragging her luggage lifelessly behind her. "All I wanted to see was Rin-kun…" she pouted.

"And you will, if you behave. Walk faster, gutter whore!" I sneered. Once she was gone, I pranced to the door and opened it.

"Daisy-chan!" I cried in happiness, wrapping her in a tight hug (which she enthusiastically returned).

"HI!" she screamed.

"Do you want to come inside?"

"OF COURSE!" she stamped her feet in place.

"Alright, alright, let's go!" I pulled her in, and went for the case with the audio-video plant left over from Moonbite's supplies. "This is what I was telling you about. It works really simply; I've used it tons of times to stalk…people."

Daisy cocked her head cutely. "But WHO?"

"It doesn't matter!" I swung my hand around through the air for no real reason. "Let me get it set up for you!" I laid it out on the couch and set to work on prepping the mechanism for a recording period of its maximum: seven days. I was more than aware of Daisy's eyes running up and down my body as I was bent over, working on it. She tried to hide it, but failed miserably.

The wiring job complete, I held it out to my violet-haired friend. "Ta-da!"

"That's amazing, Kaede-chan! Where did you learn how to do all that?"

"Nowhere, I'm just smart. I'm not the number one student in our class ONLY for my fantastic looks!" I giggled. "Alright, it's on now," I said, stabbing the activation node with a needle.

"What do you want me to do with it?" Daisy said, taking it from me and examining it.

"Just pin it to your shirt. If you can, try to wear something that matches its floral design, so it won't stand out as much to the others."

"C-can you put it on me?" she stuttered.

"Nah, I'm sure you can do it yourself." I did need to reward her for her efforts so far, though. I thought I might as well throw her a bone to ensure her loyalty. "Man, I really need to pee…" I whined, dancing in place.

Daisy looked thrilled. "C-c-c-can I watch?"

I ran up and hugged her again. "Of course!" I then led her to the bathroom.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Matsuri had graciously allowed Primula and I to stay in her attic for the night. Unfortunately, I didn't get any sleep, both from anxiety from everything that had been going on and from repeatedly fending off Primula's increasingly extreme sexual advances.

So it came to pass that Primula and I wandered groggily into the dark, crystalline-tiled Dimensional Gate house first thing in the morning, Matsuri nervously talking to me about Asa. I could barely listen to her, I was so sleepy.

"But is this alright? I don't know if we should have invited – I don't know what to SAY – I don't even know WHY I wore this shirt, it's so unsexy – does she even know who I AM?"

Her last scream woke me up a little, and drew the attention of Itsuki and Tsubomi across the room, who were standing a bit apart, holding hands.

"Matsuri-kun…it's GOING to be alright," I said, trying to ease her worries. Primula might have been right about Asa being too much of a distraction for our swordswoman.

"No it's not, no it's not, no it's not! I'm such a loser, and she's going to think that I'm a loser…"

"No she won't," I sighed. "You have to project confidence, Matsuri-kun."

"But not so much that you'll scare her off," Primula said anxiously.

"See? SEE? That's why dating is so stupid! You can never win!" Matsuri curled up into a ball and rocked back and forth on the ground as Primula and I stared at her in sleepy stupor.

"What do you think about Matsuri's outfit, Primu-chan?" I asked Primula (who herself was wearing a tight, gray cotton sleeveless tee, clearly without a bra on underneath, with a pair of even tighter booty shorts that seemed to be commanding me to remove them).

"I dunno, I wasn't looking. Could you unfurl yourself, Tranny?" Primula yawned, lightly kicking Matsuri in the hip.

Matsuri hesitantly stood back up, looking prepared to flinch and start cutting herself at the slightest provocation. She was wearing a red halter top that revealed nearly all of her back (along with the fact that she was also going braless; what is this, the sixties?) and some pretty heavy-duty looking cargo shorts that provided her usual tomboyish air. Her hair was also done up to look extremely short.

"Well, it doesn't seem to match that well. But it's not BAD. Maybe you should change your shorts."

"I-I have a skirt with me. Would that be good?" she looked to me this time.

"I think so," I said as bracingly as I could. Truthfully, Asa didn't strike me as the type to swing both ways, but I could be wrong also. "But will a skirt be very practical when we're wandering through the wilderness?"

"It'll be worth it, if she thinks I'm good looking AT ALL!" Matsuri said, yanking off her shorts in desperation before turning to her bag to retrieve her skirt. I quickly looked away from the fantastic view.

"Matsuri-kun…"

"Please call me Ruri-chan for the trip, okay?"

Wow, she really was going all out! "S-sure. Ruri-chan, in the end, you can't ever MAKE someone like you." I couldn't help glancing at Primula as I said this. "It's best just being yourself and seeing if she's interested in you. If not, don't stress about it – you just aren't right for each other." She hissed in emotional pain. "…if not," I repeated hurriedly.

"Rin-kun, being myself consists of me having a sex change, curling up in my closet, and being too afraid to go out in public. THAT'S being myself. And I don't think anyone would be interested in THAT, do you?" she said sadly, wrapping a skirt up and around her wide hips.

I gave her a tight hug. "I guarantee you that someone will love you, Mats…Ruri-chan, even if that's who you are. You are beautiful, kind, sweet, and caring. Not even a potential sex change and your social anxiety could change that, okay?"

She laughed shakily. "Thanks, Rin-kun. You'd date me, wouldn't you?"

"Hypothetically, right?"

"Right, if none of these other perfect women were all over you."

I laughed. "Of course, Mats…DAMN IT! Ruri-chan."

She exhaled slowly. "Wish me luck with Asa-sempai, okay?"

"She's here now, actually," Primula said, simply.

Matsuri threw herself off me, her face blanching to the color of death. I turned to see Asa, as well as Daisy and Forbesii, indeed walking through the door, carrying an extremely large bag of what I assumed to be cooking supplies. She was making simple athletic garb look outrageously hot, as usual, and Daisy was, well…herself, and armed with a gigantic black steel club of some sort, which was protruding with several long, silver spines. Forbesii looked oddly upbeat, given the circumstances.

I nudged Matsuri, whispering. "You should offer to help Sempai carry some stuff, right?"

She whimpered, her face contorted with expectant grief, and ran across the room to her idol. "C-can I carry something, Sempai?"

The rest of us converged on the newcomers as Asa smiled at her briefly. "Yeah, that would be great, once we get going!" With a grunt, my green-haired sempai swung the boulder-sized bag off her back and collapsed, panting. "Whew…"

"Let me go get you some water," Matsuri said, wringing her hands nervously.

After she left, Asa whispered, "Who is that?"

Itsuki and Primula laughed out loud. Poor Matsuri. At least she can get a fresh start, maybe? "Her name's Ruri-chan," I said, "She's a friend of mine, and really good at swordfighting." I decided to be a good friend and leave out any potentially damaging details.

"Oh, that's good then…RIN-KUN?" she asked incredulously, getting up and running up to my face. Her stare was pretty intimidating, and she was definitely close enough for me to kiss. The memory of doing so with her in the rain was still quite fresh in my mind.

"H-hey!" I said awkwardly. "How's it going?"

"Y-you look so much better than when I last saw you in the hospital!" she said, gawking.

"Yeah, I'm still rotting though, a little," I said, holding up my hand for her to see the bluish skin decay that had happened when I had gone to see Kaede.

"Why hasn't anyone talked to ME yet?" Daisy demanded.

"Asa-sempai, you couldn't look any more sexy if you were wet and naked," Itsuki declared, flatly ignoring his fiancée's glare.

"And what happened to your ears?" Asa continued, refusing to blink.

"It's a disguise," I said, winking. "I can catch you up on everything after the trip."

Daisy scoffed. "Why is everyone ignoring me?"

"Probably because it's way too early to see ANYTHING…" Tsubomi said in a bleary voice. Itsuki smiled at her, putting his arm around her tiny shoulders.

"And cuz nobody likes you," Primula snorted. Daisy's face twitched threateningly.

"You're, uh…you're nipping out there a little bit, Primu-chan," Itsuki said, looking at her with great interest.

"Why, thank you. Would you like to suck on them?" Primula said, running one hand through a pigtail and the other down the front of her skirt.

"Heh, don't mind if I do," Itsuki began, but fell to the ground with an animalistic screech when Tsubomi lazily pressed the button for his shock collar.

"He'll learn eventually," she yawned.

"Wow, you're all retarded. And inbred. Mostly retarded, though." Daisy said as Asa ran a hand through my hair, staring at me in a way that made me quite alert.

"Tsubomi-tan," Itsuki whined. "Why can't we just do spanking?"

"Because, Itsuki-tan," she cooed, walking over and helping him up. "That gives you an erection. We tried that, remember?"

"Heheh, yeah, I remember."

Forbesii cleared his throat. "Rin-dono…are you sure you want to bring these…particular people to help find my daughter?"

"Here's some water!" Matsuri screamed, skidding back into our group on her knees and holding it up to Asa like it was an offering. Asa looked a little concerned, but accepted it with a shaky smile.

"Y-yeah," I said, gently walking through the girls up to stand next to Forbesii. "They all have their different qualifications."

"Ooh, what's mine?" Daisy beamed.

I continued speaking to Forbesii. "Did you get the papers?"

"FUCK you!" Daisy snarled.

"Yep, they're all here," he said, handing me a folder. "Also, here's something for you and Nerine-chan, as further proof of my blessing." He then gave me a cloth-covered flip-case. I gasped and opened it, seeing a small ring decked out with electric-blue sapphire. It actually seemed to be glowing a little bit. "When you find her, if you would be so kind to propose to her with this, then that would be just marvelous."

I closed it and smiled at him dazedly. "It would be my pleasure, Forbesii-sama."

"Splendid! And here's some money," he said, handing me a gob of bills of the demon currency, kals. "It could come in handy, I bet. Lastly, as I said before, Nerine was last spotted approaching a bizarre, deserted amusement park on the Osiria continent."

"That is REALLY weird," Asa murmured. I couldn't agree more, and I was starting to get a bad feeling about the situation, especially concerning Nerine's current well-being.

"When was this sighting?" I asked him.

"Two days ago, my good heir. Now, I understand that none of you know the area too well, so I've supplied a top-quality map, here, scaled by my personal cartographers," he said, making to hand it to me, but with Itsuki intercepting it and looking at it greedily.

"Alright, um, that's all I've got!" Forbesii exclaimed. "You are the entire Demon Realm's sole hope for the future, Rin-kun; you MUST find my daughter and make her your wife."

"I will, on my life, Forbesii-sama," I vowed. I couldn't help but notice Primula and Asa look at me with blatant attraction as I said that. I wish they'd stop…I'm already suppressing an erection from how HOT they look, as is.

"This map is fucking TIGHT!" Itsuki said, sharing it with Tsubomi.

"Can we please get GOING," Daisy said, looking like she didn't want to be there at all.

"Why are you here, anyway? You don't even like anyone here!" Asa asked her with narrowed eyes.

Daisy looked offended. "I'm hoping I can smash a bunch of fucking demons! Why else? Besides, I don't hate YOU…"

Matsuri looked quite put out by Daisy's admission of a bare minimum tolerance of Asa.

"If you're all quite done, then," Forbesii inserted, walking through the middle of our group and leading us up to the giant, black sphere and a robed man standing just in front of it. "I'd appreciate it if you got on your way. There's still a slight chance that Nerine will be close by the amusement park."

"I hope so," I said restlessly.

He gestured to the person next to us. "This is Gorgoth-san, the only living Demon-God hybrid."

"Hello, Gorgoth-san!" Itsuki and Tsubomi sang in unison, both waving as excitedly as possible. They seemed to both be rapidly waking up, each feeding off the other's energy.

He simply nodded.

"Gorgoth-san operates the gate. As you'll see on the map, Itsuki-kun," Forbesii continued, "there are three gate portals on Osiria, our destination continent. The nearest gate to the abandoned park is in a densely forested wilderness."

"THAT'S convenient," Matsuri said, folding her arms. She was trying to look like she was in control, but I could see her veneer on the border of collapsing into outright panic due to her standing so close to Asa.

"I know, right?" Forbesii said gleefully. "Truthfully, it is very near a major city, Seridia, to the direct Southwest. You will be heading in the opposite direction."

"I still don't see why it couldn't have just been me and Rin-kun," Primula pouted next to me. No one seemed to acknowledge her, but I did want to scoop her up and kiss her. Fortunately, I was still barely controlling myself.

"Are you all prepared for the gate transport?" Gorgoth said in a stoic voice.

"More or less," I said with a shrug.

* * *

(Kaede's Point of View)

I rushed to the screen in the morning, ready to start howling with anger at the injustice of the world if Moonbite's transmitter didn't work. Or if Daisy was too buttfucking stupid to make it work. Fortunately for my vocal cords, though, I didn't have to, since the camera on her tit was broadcasting beautifully on my TV screen.

"Thank the gods," I muttered, looking over at the sleeping Sakura, who was still taking up the whole couch with her trashy, greasy, STD-ridden slutfuck of a body. I didn't think she deserved to pollute my cushions any more than she already had, so I took a stapler, slowly peeled off her panties, and firmly snapped a staple into the rim of her surprisingly tight asshole.

The result was too good to be true. Sakura woke up with a tortured screech of pain and surprise as blood just spilled out of her ass. She even started farting a little bit. I couldn't stop laughing. The staple must have just detonated her ass! The way she tried to look at me with utmost disgust made me laugh even harder.

"Go to the bathroom, whore, before you shit blood all over my fucking carpet," I sneered.

"Get-it-out-get-it-out-get-it-out-get-it…" she squawked and screamed in desperation, her fingers fumbling in vain to find the staple in her ass amidst the stream of running blood. She began to urinate as well. Simply lovely. She'll be a fun one.

"I said, GET OUT!" I laughed, grabbing her around the torso with both hands and throwing her as hard as I could into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. As I touched myself to her sweet moans of suicidal pain, I sat back down on the couch and observed Rin's group on the screen as they went through the portal, one by one.

I had always been mildly interested to experience gate travel. However, what would be the point? Our world was obviously the best, so there'd be no REAL reason to go other than just exerting effort. Or if Rin told me to. I think I'd probably do just about anything Rin asked of me, at this point.

After the screen stopped swirling with annoying bursts of color, Daisy's titty-cam found itself in a forest that admittedly looked pretty cool. The trunks of all the trees were a deep green, and a slight red tint covered everything.

"Wow, it's HOT," Rin complained. Aww, Rin, don't be like that! I want to touch myself to you, you have to act like a man! You just got here.

"I agree," Primula piped in. I noticed her eyes hadn't once left him since I turned the TV on. "I recommend we all take off our pants." Alright, now we're talking!

Just then, the doorbell rang. "Who the fuck?" I wondered aloud. Dammit, I better clean all this blood up…

I looked at the cushion soaked with Sakura's ass-blood for about two seconds before deciding to simply flip it over. There! All clean!

I grabbed a tissue then and wiped it once across the puddles of piss and ass on the carpet. "Good enough!" I declared, dumping the dripping thing in the trash.

After a "SHUT UP, YOU WHORE!" to Sakura, I finally got around to answering whoever was at the fucking door.

"Hello!" I sang, a hand on my extremely voluptuous hip and a bright smile on my extremely desirable lips. Unfortunately, such a good pose was completely wasted when it turned out to be that washboard-chested Mayumi. "What do you want?" I muttered, completely reverting to my true self.

"Well, I was looking for Rin-kun," she said uncertainly. Damn, Rin really knows how to hook these unconfident, trailer-trash types, doesn't he? How many women does he HAVE on his dick?

"He's not here," I said, itching my ass crack.

"Really?" Mayumi said, glaring at me distrustfully. "I can hear him right now, though."

"Well, that's…" I sighed. I might as well clue her in, I suppose. Purely out of the benevolence of my selfless heart, I stood aside and gestured to the TV. "I'm monitoring him right now."

"Whoa, WHAT?" Mayumi peeked in, her strong perfume insulting my nose. She must have really been hoping to seduce Rin today, followed by a good long fucking. Unfortunately for her, that's not gonna happen. Ever, if I have my way. "Is…is that LIVE?" She seemed really excited or some shit.

I nodded, a little proud of how awesome my ideas always are. "Yeah, it's a live video-audio broadcast."

"I, uh…may I come in?" she asked hesitantly.

"I guess. Why are you so interested in this?" I said, stepping aside and staring in disbelief at how tiny her breasts are. I'm pretty sure mine were bigger when I was three.

"I'm a reporter, you know!" No, I didn't. "And, plus, it's Rin-kun! I can't believe I actually get to stare at him without him knowing!"

"Aww…" I accidentally said out loud, before clamping my hand over my mouth in alarm.

Mayumi looked at me in surprise. "Did you just say 'Aww?'"

I slammed the front door. "I just understand, that's all. It's damn HOT to stare at him. I really hope Daisy-chan gets some footage of him bathing."

"Uh-huh," Mayumi agreed, her face blushing. "Th-th-that would be…"

I itched my eye with my middle finger, slightly surprised that she and I were getting along so well. Perhaps you could still be a cool person, even with infant-sized titties? Maybe…wait, what am I saying? No, just no.

"Where are they, anyway?" Mayumi said, sitting down on the couch cushion I had flipped over a few minutes ago.

"The Demon World, you stupid whore," I laughed. "Why don't you know?"

"Well, SORRY," Mayumi huffed, setting down her purse. Apparently she was planning on staying. Not that I could blame her, since there was a chance of naked Rin penis in the near future. "I had a fight with him, so I got a little out of the loop, I guess. So, they're there to find Nerine-chan, right?"

"Ohh, so he dumped you, too, huh?" I grinned euphorically.

Mayumi sighed, and leaned over, holding her stomach. "Yeah."

I walked over and patted her on the head, stifling my laughter as I did so.

"Wh-who is it?" Sakura said in a pain-soaked voice as she came out without any pants on. Tears were streaming down her face. She seemed to have stopped bleeding, though, thankfully. "Oh, M-Mayumi-chan!"

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Mayumi beamed. Hey. You're not allowed to find comfort in each other!

"Well, isn't this sweet!" I grinned, leaning on the couch. "The three of us were all dumped by Rin-kun! I guess we're all in the same boat!"

Sakura and Mayumi's momentary relief was quickly replaced by obvious emotional distress.

I just laughed and plopped down on the chair next to the couch, watching the group on the screen get started on their trek throughout the forest.

* * *

(Rin's Point of View)

The Demon Realm felt quite humid compared to Japan…or perhaps it was just this continent that was like that. Not much had happened for the past few hours, but everyone seemed to be in fairly high spirits as we clambered through the forest.

Asa had taken the lead after Itsuki discerned the correct direction. I was happy someone reliable like her was leading, but there was a downside to walking behind her. A very large downside.

Before I turned into a demon, I'd never felt quite so inclined to rape someone as I did to Asa as I followed her. Her butt was so…SOOOO…incredibly sexy that I thought I might explode from the sheer, unmitigated attraction. The way that her cloth shorts just clung to her swinging cheeks as they contorted every…single…fucking step of the way had my mind completely in shreds.

I groaned and pictured kittens getting mutilated to death by fan blades. I had a substantial boner, but it was far from its maximum power at the moment, and I intended to keep it that way.

But it's no use. I wanna fuck her! I wanna rip her shorts off and…

DAMMIT, Rin! Get a HOLD of yourself! GAH!

I slapped myself on the cheek and tried to divert my attention to the others. Matsuri was on my left, giving me a knowing look and also blatantly staring at Asa's butt. "Isn't she just incredible?" she whispered, holding her heart as though it were soaring with emotion. It probably was.

"Why does it smell like anus here?" Primula said with a wrinkled nose. I think she might have been addressing me. I shrugged and tried not to look at her adorable, jiggling chest. DAMMIT! I might have to castrate myself if this keeps up. But then, I doubt either Sia or Nerine would want to marry me. So I have to just keep controlling myself…DAMN Asa's got a fine ass!

"Yeah, it's so…ITCHY out here! And there's bugs! Yuck!" Tsubomi said from atop Itsuki's shoulders. Earlier, she was so disgusted by her surroundings that she was holding the group back, so he became her mount.

"Suck it up, you miniature whores," Daisy growled from behind me. I grinned at her, to which she demanded. "What the fuck's wrong with you?" Apparently being friendly isn't in her repertoire.

"Are you looking forward to killing people?" I asked as kindly as possible.

"Definitely," she said, cocking her face into a sadistic grin. "You'd better find me someone, fast, or I'll start knocking off our people, one-by-one, starting with the most useless one."

"Which is me?"

"Wow, you're smarter than I ever gave you credit for!" she mocked me with a sneer.

"Do you EVER stop PMS-ing?" Primula glared at Daisy.

Daisy pointed past Primula. "You see that tree over there? No, not that one, the one right next to it. That one? How would you like to have your brain splattered on it?"

"Daisy-chan, please try to be the mature one," Asa said from the front. Oh my gods! I saw her breasts when she turned around! Fully covered with her tank top, of course, but they are WAY too fucking incredible! They jiggled! It was fantastic!

Dammit, I have to control my eyes, or everyone's going to hate me for being a total pervert.

"Am I leading at a good speed, Rin-kun?" Asa said, turning around and holding her hands cutely behind her as she walked backwards.

I gulped, using ALL my willpower to NOT stare at her bosom. "Yeah, I, you know…I can't complain."

"You are a great leader, Asa-sempai!" Matsuri gushed in support.

Asa beamed. "Alright, just tell me once you all get tired, okay?"

"I'm tired right now," Primula sighed as Asa turned around.

I contemplated inviting her to get on my shoulders like Itsuki had done with Tsubomi. I didn't know if I could handle her only-covered-by-underwear crotch against my neck, though, and I'd also get mercilessly mocked by everyone.

I don't see why demons have to have such a higher sex drive! This sucks for someone in my position!

"Now, Primu-chan, we have to be strong in order to support Rin-kun's quest to reconnect with his wife," Itsuki said, walking over to Primula's position.

"Yeah, we've got your back," Matsuri said in a soothing voice from next to me. I smiled at her. At least HER I could think about in a non-sexual way. Okay, and Tsubomi and Daisy, too. So The ones I really have to worry about are Asa and Primula and their unforgivably sexy selves. Damn them. Damn them to Hell.

"Well, I'm not REALLY tired," Primula explained to Itsuki. "I actually just wanted to try and suck Rin-kun's dick, you see." I winced as she said that, more out of temptation than annoyance.

"Oh, is that all?" Asa said sarcastically. DAMN her ass is incredible!

"Well, you'll get your chance later, Primu-chan," Tsubomi said encouragingly.

"That's right." Itsuki took over. "And remember, since Rin-kun's dick is way too big for your mouth, it's good for you to stick your tongue out and slide it down the underside of his…"

"SHUT UP!" Daisy bellowed, fondling the handle of her steel club.

"Yes, PLEASE STOP TALKING!" I said, beet red from embarrassment.

"No, I'd like him to continue," Primula said importantly. "What were you saying, Itsuki-kun?"

"Well, you can suck a guy's dick better if you use your tongue as a chute to accept his cock further into your mouth. If he's too big for you, that is." He looked at me with a wry grin. "I'm not sure if that's a problem for Rin-kun."

"Oh, it IS a problem," Asa put in, winking at me as she said it. "He's very well-endowed, take it from me."

"Asa-sempai…" I muttered feebly, trying to meditate my horniness down. "Please try not to say 'Take it from me' anymore, okay?"

She looked quite confused.

Itsuki went on to Primula, "You see, Primu-chan, there comes a time in every man's life where he just needs to hump his girl's bare, sweaty armpit. Now, are you properly shaven?"

As Primula shook her head in dire concern, I disgustedly turned to Matsuri.

"Matsu…dammit, RURI-chan."

"What's up, brotha?" she said with a wink.

"Talk."

"What?"

"Please. PLEASE. Just talk about anything."

"Hmmm…" she stroked her chin, before lowering her voice to a murmur. "How do you think it's going with me and sempai?"

"Not bad, not bad at all, I think!" I said, trying to be encouraging. "Truthfully, though, I don't really know very much about flirting well."

Matsuri sighed. "I just…want her to think about me 24/7…but that will never happen…"

I patted her on her bare shoulder. "You never know. At least you're aiming high, and have a goal!"

"Well, what should I do? How should I act?"

"Just try to be calm, cool, and dependable. That's when you're at your best." I looked at Asa, who was walking through the thicket just as assuredly as ever. "Why don't you go up and talk to her now? She's completely open."

"Right NOW?" Matsuri's face contorted into stark fear.

"Yeah. Deep breaths, okay? Deep breaths."

"Okay," she said, doing as I commanded before giving me a quick squeeze of a hug and approaching the extremely desirable goddess of a woman in front of us.

"Studies have shown that women can get very close to their men if they help them pee at night," Itsuki said in a completely serious voice, still telling Primula some of his valuable life lessons. She nodded with understanding, her intense red eyes looking up at me with resolve.

"What kind of bullshit are you SPEWING, Itsuki-kun?" I sighed.

"Asa-sempai, are you busy?" Matsuri said, sounding the opposite of calm, cool, and collected.

Asa turned to her and blinked. "Oh, hi! Ruri-chan, right?"

Ruri turned a dark purple and skipped back to where I was walking. "She knows my NAME! She said it OUT LOUD!"

I nodded and shoved her back up there as Tsubomi said to me, "No, he's actually right, Rin-kun. Itsuki and I almost always have sex…"

"Don't you DARE say another word," I told her.

"We actually agree on something," Daisy said, walking up next to me. "How bizarre."

"But I wanna talk about sex with EVERYONE!" Tsubomi sang to the sky.

"Asa-sempai," Matsuri said, "So, so, so…do you like…boys!"

"Um…as opposed to girls?" Asa asked.

Matsuri nodded.

"Y-yes, especially if it's Rin-ku…"

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Matsuri screamed in flat-out panic, sprinting to the back of the group and hiding behind me. I could feel her vibrating from frayed nerves.

"Ruri-chan…" I said sympathetically.

Asa just stared at us in utter confusion.

"What…the fuck?" Daisy asked, pausing and tensing up.

The rest of us stopped to look at her. "Do you see some-" I began.

"SHHHHHH!" she hissed, approaching the dark of the thicket.

Suddenly, a load moan erupted from right in front of her, and an enormous, blood-red mammal soared out of the plants, directly at us.

All the girls screamed, but Daisy smacked it down with an impressive reflex, killing it instantly. After it collapsed to the ground, she pounded its skull twice more, just for personal enjoyment.

She took a step back and tossed her hair. "Thank me, all of you."

"Thanks, Daisy-chan!" everyone said, bowing and clasping their hands together in gratitude.

"What IS that?" Asa said, coming up to me, causing me and Matsuri both to jump with alarm and back rapidly away.

Itsuki set down Tsubomi and approached the beast. "It's a Torigari, if I'm not mistaken. It's a common, lion-like creature with very large wings. Some of the Demons on this continent have historically used Torigari as steeds."

"So it's like a moose." Primula said simply. We all stared at her.

"Okay…how…the FUCK…is that like a fucking moose?" Daisy said, unreasonably angry at Primula's statement.

Primula shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe you have one up your ass?"

"That's quite possible," I said, stroking my chin.

"Is it edible?" Matsuri asked Asa, blushing intensely.

"My ass?" Daisy asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"No, the moose, I think," Asa said. "And, I don't know, Ruri-chan. Itsuki-kun?"

"Yeah, it should be safe."

"Well, I vote we take a break, then," Asa said. "We can eat, and then even bathe in the river there!" She pointed off past the trees. Matsuri gasped and went into hyperventilation when Asa mentioned bathing.

"What river?" Primula said, walking up and taking my hand. It was so smooth…and warm…I smiled at her, one she returned quite enthusiastically.

"She's right! I can hear one not too far away from here," Itsuki said, listening hard.

"Cool, we'll rest here for now, then," I said, walking up to Asa again. "Sempai and I can prepare the food. The rest of you can get the camp set up, if you want."

"I don't want to, though, faggot," Daisy told me.

"Then you can stand watch."

"Fuck yeah, I can!" Daisy beamed, twirling around and crouching, ready to pound something else to death with her still-dripping club.

* * *

(Kaede's Point of View)

All three of us got actively interested once Asa mentioned bathing. We had enjoyed seeing brief glimpses of Rin's boner through his sport shorts, and it was quite addictive to stare at. Sakura had cheered up quite a bit since I destroyed her asshole this morning, but my spirits had risen, too, so I allowed it for now. We all got great pleasure commenting on Rin's dick as we saw it.

It was weird. For once…I kind of felt like I was getting along with girls as friends. Very, very strange indeed.

At the moment, Mayumi was praying. "Dear Gods…I haven't prayed much in the past. But, if you do have any power to grant wishes, please…PLEASE…have Daisy film Rin-kun as he's bathing."

"Or at LEAST with his dick hanging out," I said, gently fondling myself.

"You guys are WAY too perverted," Sakura said, all four of her limbs squeezing a pillow. "Think about his privacy. He wouldn't want us to be spying on him, and he wouldn't on us."

"You're probably right," Mayumi said, smiling. "But you've been just as interested in his ass as we have this whole time."

"And you almost called as many Rin-boner sightings as I did," I grinned. I had the most, of course. Since I'm fucking awesome.

"I know…" she said with a blush. "I definitely want to see him bathe, too. But it's still wrong…"

"Sakura-chan," I beamed, "morality is extremely overrated."

"Ssh, it looks like they might be done eating!" Mayumi said.

"Alright, come on, Daisy-chan!" I gasped.

"Okay, we're going to bathe on THIS side of the tent," Asa explained to everyone. "And you guys can go bathe over there."

"Works for me," Rin said, looking oddly relieved for some reason.

"He's still got a boner," Sakura said in awe, humping her pillow some more.

"GOD I want to ride him!" Mayumi screeched.

"You guys…" I said, laughing pathetically. "It's starting to smell quite rancid in here."

"Oh look, he's trying to hide it!" Sakura cried.

"And failing miserably," I giggled.

Mayumi squealed and fell over on the couch.

Wow. We're such losers.

Come on, come on, Daisy…

After talking for a while, the group split up, with Tsubomi going with the guys. Daisy was hesitating about which way to go.

"Oh, maybe? Maybe?" Sakura was drooling a little bit.

"NOOOO!" All three of us bellowed when Daisy finally started moving towards the girls' side of the river.

"FUCK you, Daisy-chan! Just…just…FUCK YOU!" Mayumi wept in agony.

"I told her!" I snarled. "I told her to follow him, and not let him out of her sight! She deliberately disobeyed me!"

"Wait," Sakura said softly. "Look!" To our consummate amazement and awe, Daisy paused after chatting with Asa for a little bit. Then, after Matsuri took Asa's attention (looking like she was about to climax, herself), Daisy did the unthinkable…and BACKED AWAY, turning to approach the direction of the guys.

"Oh…"

"My…"

"Giant, sexy ASS!" I finished, standing up on my chair in glee. "She's gonna DO it!"

"I can't believe it!" Sakura gasped, looking like she was about to have a seizure. "I'm gonna see Rin's naked body!"

Mayumi squealed and hugged Sakura tightly, and then got up to hug me. My happiness was so great that I got up, too, and we hugged together tightly in jubilation.

"It's a miracle," she whispered.

"I know, Mayumi-chan. This is the happiest I've ever been," I said, squeezing her in my arms.

We split apart restlessly, as we stared at the screen. Sakura stood up to join us as well.

Before long, Daisy's tit-cam peered out through a gap the trees to see Rin, Itsuki, and Tsubomi all stripping. Rin was off by himself, and his extremely toned, tanned body positively glimmered with sweat as he peeled off his shirt.

"Oh, FUCK!" Mayumi gasped.

"I know! I want him to rape me so bad…" Sakura chattered her teeth for some reason, her hands exploring most regions of her body.

"I don't think that would be rape, Hun," I said, moaning slightly, "but I know what you mean."

Mayumi let out a high-pitched moan as he unceremoniously slid out of his shorts, revealing his QUITE form-fitting boxers.

"Just LOOK at that ride-up in his ass! He's so HOT!" Sakura gasped, her fingers firmly implanted in her crotch now. I was quickly getting there myself.

"Never mind his ass! Look at how sexy the FRONT is! You can see everything! How FUCKABLE! And he's so giant!"

Mayumi seemed to have lost the ability to speak, moaning yet again. She sat back down and slid off her panties as she refused to take her eyes off the screen.

Sakura and I quickly sat down as well.

"MMM…I want him so bad!" I cried out. Every part of me was aching for him now.

"Here he goes," Sakura whispered sacredly. We all STARED as Rin turned to the left to hide his boner from the already lovemaking Itsuki-Tsubomi combo, and then slipped his boxers off. We all screamed in apparent shock and wonder when his dick sprung back up immediately, growing even bigger.

"THAT was…MMMHHHAAAAAH!" Mayumi screamed, masturbating about Rin desperately.

"He must be turned on by them fucking just right there," I said. "I know I would be! He's SO horny!"

"I wish I was there!" Mayumi wailed. "I just now he'd want to fuck me!"

"GHH, I'd fuck HIM!" Sakura said, mounting her pillow and humping it. "He wouldn't have a chance to get away!"

I screamed along with them, feeding the richly sexual atmosphere. For a moment, Rin belonged to all three of us! We were there, right alongside him, helping him bathe. We gasped as he splashed water all over his incredibly fit chest.

"Alright, look, he's washing himself now!" Sakura cried gleefully. "MMM…look how wet and big he is!"

Mayumi swallowed. "Kaede-chan…is this…being recorded?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah it is."

"…That's…that's good…" she said quietly, still working her crotch eagerly. "I…want to do this alone with my Rin-kun sometime."

"I'll get you a copy. And you too, Sakura-chan," I grinned at my old friend. Our eyes met, each containing surprisingly similar sentiments. Somehow, it seemed that simultaneous public masturbation was fast repairing our friendship.

"Hey look, he's washing his butt now!" Sakura pointed out.

"MMM, I want to wash it like that! I'd lick it clean!" Mayumi cried out in jubilation.

I laughed as my personal lusting party continued. "Yeah, his ass is truly fucking awesome!"

Sakura again cried, "Whoa, Tsubomi-chan's looking at him! Look! That whore! She's sneaking glances!"

"Well, you can't blame her! Who wouldn't want to ogle THAT body?" Mayumi cried.

"GAH! P-Primu-chan's coming! Check it out!" I hissed.

"THAT WHORE!" the others cried.

"I know! I don't think he sees her! Once she's on him, it'll be too late!"

Sakura gulped. "I hope she doesn't fuck him!"

"Oh, she's going to, trust me," I said. "She is a total slut for Rin-kun."

"Is she really?" Mayumi asked.

"Sure! They sleep together all the time," I sighed, still masturbating along with the others.

"That WHORE! How dare she corrupt my Rin-kun!" Sakura screamed, standing up, shaking a fist at the ceiling.

Primula arrived at the scene, reaching deftly between our crush's legs and giving his crotch one giant stroke.

"HOLY SHIT!" I screamed, as the others also cursed. I don't think anyone in history has ever been as deeply despised than Primula was at that exact moment.

Rin jumped in alarm, but she pressed herself up to his back. They were talking, but Daisy was too far away from them for us to hear.

"What are they saying?" Sakura asked softly.

"I don't know! Listen!" I hissed.

Rin's body contorted with obvious pleasure, and we all gasped. It looked like her hands were now grappling with his throbbing cock. That lucky little slut!

She then leaned forward and laid her lips on his ass.

"Oh, now THAT'S just going too far!" Mayumi declared as Primula began to slide and press herself all over his body. Rin was her puppet. He was contorting and spasming, completely under her control.

"He's gonna, he's gonna…" Sakura whispered, her hand sliding back down to her crotch.

"That's right, pretend that it's US doing it to him!" I declared. "He's gonna spurt soon!"

We all watched in eager anticipation as Primula worked him with precise seduction. This was absolutely insane.

We heard Rin cry out, causing Itsuki and Tsubomi to stop what they were doing and look at him.

"Oh my god, oh my god, look how much PLEASURE he's in! His whole body is just throbbing!" Mayumi said, looking exactly how she was describing him.

"THERE HE GOES!" Sakura and I cried in unison while Mayumi moaned intensely. It was hard to see, but a white stream of Rin's holy seed skyrocketed out into the Demon Realm sky.

We all kept going long after that, though, quickly disregarding anything on the screen but Rin's incredibly naked body. Just the mere sight of him ejaculating on film was enough to break down our minds into complete pervert mode. One by one, we all finished, and then separately excused ourselves to go take a shower.

* * *

(Rin's Point of View)

After an interesting bathing experience, where I barely was able to contain my massive desire to penetrate Primula, we all slept pretty restlessly, due in large part to it not being dark at all in Osiria. Ever, apparently, according to Itsuki. We were also in the same tent, which made us pretty damn crowded. Fortunately, we had all just bathed, so there wasn't too much of a stink factor.

The next morning, though indistinguishable as such by the sky's constant brightness, we continued carousing through the woods. I found myself in the back with Primula, feeling I needed to say something. Or wanted to. Although I had no idea what it was.

Without warning, Primula lowered her hand to by crotch and squeezed it. "Is it okay if I hold your cock?" she asked me in an attempt at a flirtatious voice.

Everyone else in the group smirked back at us knowingly.

"Don't ask me after you've already grabbed it!" I scolded her, yanking her hand away.

"Well, you seemed to like it last night," she commented, walking up and holding me around the waist.

"Primu-chan, of COURSE I like it. I'm trying to suppress it, and you're not helping," I sighed.

"But…why would you try to suppress what you like? Is it because I look so young?"

"Yup." I blinked. "Wait, what do you mean 'look' so young?"

"Haven't I told you my age?"

"I thought you said you didn't know."

"I don't know it for certain, but I'm at least sixteen years old," she said, looking at me significantly.

"O-oh," I said, feeling a little awkward. I tried to casually pull her closer, and she giggled at my attempt.

"I don't age, Rin-kun. I've looked EXACTLY like this ever since I was born."

"Why is that, though?"

Primula laughed, stretching in a way that showed off her newly shaven armpits…not that I care or anything…and her desirable breasts. "I guess my creator must have had a preference for this body type or something."

"I see," I said. "So what you're getting at is, I shouldn't mind the fact that you look like you're a little older than twelve, since that's how you're always going to look."

"Yup!"

"Uh-huh…" I shivered. "Look, Primu-chan, I just can't get past it. I know what you want from me, but…"

"Rin-kun," she said, rubbing herself along my arm, "Don't allow your head to get in the way."

"It's not just that, I'm instinctively dissuaded from seeing you that way," I said, blatantly lying. My demon instincts were commanding me to devour her right then and there. "I just…need some time to think about it."

"How much time? Until you're already married and you've forgotten all about me?" she asked, her eyes fixed on me.

"Primu-chan…"

"Am I that unattractive? Can you really NOT see me that way no matter what I do?" she asked, now looking a little dejected.

I took a deep breath. "I DO have attractions to you, Primu-chan, but they make me uncomfortable. I don't have the kind of feelings that you want me to have for you, either."

She stopped short. I tried to drag her along, but she remained still.

"Are you saying you don't love me?"

"I…don't want to say that exactly…?"

"But that IS what you're saying, right?"

Itsuki called back to us, "Hey, what's the hold-up?"

"Keep walking!" Primula commanded, throwing an ice spear in his direction. "We'll catch up! She pushed herself up to me sexually. "You don't have any sort of romantic feelings for me, whatsoever?"

"Of course I have SOME," I said. "Look, I'm hard against you, right now!"

"Well," she said, looking a little satisfied, "I guess that's a start."

"But I'm not in love with you, Primu-chan."

Her smile disappeared. "And it's because of the way I look, right?"

"Well…if you wanna put it that way, I guess that's true…but you should be happy with your body, too."

"How can I, when it's the one thing keeping you from loving me? Rin-kun, I…you have no IDEA how much I want to be your wife…" Primula said, sincerity now dripping from her sore voice.

"I know, Primu-chan, but I don't think I can get past your appearance…I don't think I'd be able to convince myself that the relationship was real." I really hoped she wouldn't kill me. "Don't get me wrong, I do think you're gorgeous, and extremely tempting…"

"And that IS enough for me," Primula said. She lifted up her shirt, presenting her bare breasts. "Look, this is completely, ONLY yours! I don't care if you don't love me…"

"But I do care, Primu-chan…without that sincerity involved, I don't think it's right for us to be together." I took a deep breath and gently pulled her shirt down over her extremely gorgeous, small breasts. "I care about you a lot, Primu-chan, and I want what is best for you. I don't think that what's best for you is my love, though."

"You are the only person who's ever meant anything to me," she whispered to me, holding my hand against her heart. "Don't presume to be the only one who knows what can make me happy. I would rather kill myself than be forgotten by you, Rin-kun." And with that, she turned and walked away, casting several significant looks at me.

* * *

Over time, the trees became sparser, until we found ourselves at the top of a ridge overlooking an endless expanse of extremely dry looking soil. There were huge thunderheads covering the Osirian sky, flashing with bolts of electricity.

"Is that it?" Tsubomi commented, pointing to a shadow off about a mile away.

"I bet," Itsuki said. "You've good eyes, gorgeous. That's why I love you!"

I gave Primula a wry smirk, but she just sighed and turned her head away. We hadn't talked any more since our discussion. I obviously hadn't handled it as well as possible, but I also have been distracted recently. And I am doing the right thing…I think…by denying her.

* * *

We arrived in the clearly run-down theme park just as the rain started picking up, the lightning continuing to erupt with blinding flashes. The air was superheated, electric. My ominous feeling about Nerine returned with renowed vigor.

"I don't like it here," Primula murmured, staring wide-eyed at the various bulbous attractions.

"Oh, it's just a theme park, don't worry!" Itsuki said.

"No…there's something wrong. I can feel pain," Tsubomi whispered, freezing in place. "Hurt, sadness, and pain."

We all gazed around. The park had several attractions, which glimmered in the brightness of the Osirian storm, and they seemed mysteriously well-cared-for, given the park's emptiness. "So, this is where her trail ends, huh?" I sighed, wondering where to start looking for clues.

"GOOOOOOOD evening, ladies and gents!" a demon man with a moustache sang from a cabin near the entrance. "And welcome to the Phantom Fair!"

"Hi!" Asa said, trying to wave and shield herself from the downpour simultaneously.

"Wow, he seems excited," Matsuri commented. "I bet he hasn't seen people for a while."

The demon leapt down and stamped in place in front of us. "You're going to just love your time here! Come on in!"

"Wha…is this park still open?" I asked him in confusion as I followed him to the base of a loop-de-loop.

"Yes, of course it is! Phantom Fair is the largest living theme park in history!"

"Wait, I'm sorry; did you just say 'LIVING?'" Daisy repeated.

"Absolutely!"

"It's probably just a gimmick or theme for the park or something," I muttered.

"Oh, no, every single one of these rides are formed from organic creatures, raised from petri dishes! It makes them really happy to have people ride in them!" The demon looked on the verge of spontaneous combustion. "Aren't they just BEAUTIFUL?" he squealed.

"UH, no, that's fucking creepy," Primula said, and the demon man looked like he'd been stabbed. I kicked her lightly in the calf for her rudeness, to which she glared at me.

"He's right, though," Tsubomi said, wavering in place with her eyes closed. "I can hear their thoughts…they're watching us right now, wanting to care for us, to ride them." She looked up at me. "They're very sad, and no longer want to live."

"You don't like my darling rides?" the park manager whined, rubbing a gloved hand over the glimmering, spongy surface of one of the loop-de-loop pods. It moaned deeply as he did so, causing Asa and Matsuri to gasp.

"This truly is incredible genetic engineering," Itsuki said, walking up and poking the same pod, and chuckling as it made an interesting-sounding groan in response. "But I'm not sure it's, um…morally alright to trap so many creatures and force them to carry people like this."

"Oh no, you've got it all wrong, my good fellow!" the demon said, now seeming more desperate. "These rides actively DESIRE people to use them. That's the only way they can feel any purpose from life at all. They love caring for people! And they're very sweet…aren't you, Koko-chan?" he said delicately to Koko - the pod, apparently.

I cleared my throat. "Okay, we're actually not here to ride anything, as interesting as that would be. We're here to look for someone."

He laughed bitterly. "I should have known those millions spent on advertising wouldn't return a single park visitation. I should go home and overdose on…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, before you do that," I interrupted, "We're URGENTLY trying to locate someone. It's Nerine, the Princess of the Demons. Have you seen anyone come…"

He snorted. "How could I have! No one's come to the park in months! And even then, all they did was cast spells on my poor babies, exploding them, or making them spurt out blood! And everyone always MOCKS them! No one ever loves them the way I do!"

Primula had been quiet the whole time, staring intensely up at a roller coaster car nearby. "Made from a petri dish, huh?" she muttered. "How is this fucking CAR WITH FEELINGS any different from me? Am I really that unliving?"

"Primula, you're a demon, not a car. Of COURSE you're alive, and different," I said quickly before turning back to the manager. "Then how do you explain the sighting that Forbesii-sama received of his daughter, HERE, in THIS park?"

"I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!" Daisy roared, flourishing her club and surprising the entire group but Primula. "These things must DIE, I HATE THEM!"

"No, d-don't do anything hasty, I know they're not for everyone, but," the manager ran forward, trying to plead with her.

"You're SICK!" Daisy snarled, her eyes turning into a deep blood red. "How could you make such pitful monsters…made of nothing but blobs of DISGUSTING organs…and then condemn them to have happiness depending on people liking them? There's no way ANYONE could like something so fucking unnatural and HIDEOUS as these cars!"

"Please, don't…they're my darling babies!" the owner whined, the whole theme park backing him up with moans of their own. Their feelings must have been wounded

"Get the FUCK out of my way!" Daisy clubbed him aside, jettisoning out a splash of blood from his stomach as he went flying. She stomped up to Koko the pod, and was about to rip into her organs when the manager screamed.

"I'll tell you where the princess is!"

Thankfully, Daisy stopped in mid-swing, but still had her club hovering over Koko.

"So…you DO know where she is?" Asa said with a frown.

"Why were you lying to us?" Primula asked darkly.

"Yes, well, you see – she probably went to this top-secret club…"

"Probably?" Daisy echoed, drool streaming out of her mouth.

"I, er, well, the only people that ever come to this park don't attend the park at all…they just use it as a secret entrance to this, er, club thingy, called, um…the Oceliquot Club."

"But you didn't see her, yourself?" I asked him.

"W-well, I can't be sure, but I did see a beautiful teenage girl come through who looked a lot like the princess; however, she was dressed below her social level…and I don't think a princess would usually go to a place like this."

"Take us to the club entrance," Primula demanded.

"W-well, don't you want to ride any of my dear, kind rides? They'd love to experience someone caring about them for a change…"

"FUCK THAT!" Daisy growled, whipping her club down through Koko, who collapsed with a scream, orange blood and green organs tumbling out of her. The car bellowed in sorrow, as did the rest of the cars in the loop-de-loop. Tsubomi's eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted immediately into Itsuki's arms.

"K-K-Koko-chan! What have you done?" the manager screamed, tears actively coming out of his eyes.

"I put her out of her misery, you piece of SHIT!" Daisy snarled. "Now, take us to this fucking club or some shit RIGHT now, or I'll break this next fucking pod in half, too!"

The park fell silent except for the cracks of thunder and the pitter-patter of rain.

"I'll…I'll take you there," the defeated park owner said, walking slowly to the left, his eyes deadened.

We tromped through the squeaking, muddy soil over to an unmanned Cotton Candy stand, which had an ecstatic clown plastered on its side, looking so out of place to be completely eerie. The manager silently went inside and entered a code or something on a personal PC, which raised the clown-printed wall to reveal a steel cage of an elevator.

"Is this…the entrance?" Asa murmured.

I shuddered; what had Nerine gotten herself into? And it was probably all my fault…

"Yes," the manager said, entering another sequence to open the grate door. "There is a password below: long live the Hammer." He regained my attention with that phrase. I wonder if he means The Hammer of the Void, Moonbite, or if there are other "Hammers" that are similar to her. The possibility made me feel like puking, so I quickly ignored the thought.

We piled into the cage, but the demon held me back with one hand on my shoulder. Some base instinct in my demon body wanted to slay him immediately for even laying a hand on me, but I fortunately suppressed that urge.

"What?" I managed to mutter.

"Excuse me, you're a proper Demon lad, aren't you? I want your advice." Uh-huh. "M-my rides…do you really think…the right thing to do would be to kill all of them?" he said, his eyes bubbling with tears.

I sighed. "I don't think it's right to either leave them to suffer like this, or to murder all of them. If you were really concerned about the RIGHT thing to do, you shouldn't have created them in the first place."

"But, but…I thought people would love them…and they're guaranteed to love people in return…I just don't understand what…"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but…" I laid a hand on his shoulder, too. "I don't think ANYONE could love these rides."

His face fell again as I backed into the elevator with everyone. The mood was quite dark as the shutter closed and we dropped into an abyss of extremely loud sound.

* * *

(Kaede's Point of View)

"That was SO sad!" Sakura whined. "Why is Rin-kun being so mean? I thought the rides were cute. And I would love them and care for them!"

"I agree," Mayumi said. "Clearly the RIGHT THING TO DO, that he's so adamant about, he's showing them love and appreciation."

"Normally I think you two are full of shit. And today is no exception," I yawned. "I'm with Daisy on this one. They're…barely sentient, depressed globs of organs, being forced into slavery against their will. She's right to at least put one to rest. Or some shit."

"The laziest thing to do isn't usually the best course of action," Sakura told me.

"Says the slut who still hasn't kicked her drug habit!" I sneered. "Don't fucking preach to me."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed."

"Don't, Sakura-chan! It's just getting good!" Mayumi said, taking another handful of popcorn from our community bowl.

"Kill her, Kaede-chan…put down the dirty slut, and you'll have my favor once more…" I clearly heard Moonbite's voice speak inside my head. I looked over at Sakura, who looked quite pathetic and ugly as she dragged herself upstairs. I really ought to kill her, to put her out of her misery. There's no chance that Rin would ever love her, when he has so many better options to choose from. Plus, I can't stand her.

On the other hand, a large part of me does want to rekindle my ancient friendship with her…even if it was fake before. I would like to be friends with her, if she wasn't such a dirty STD-ridden tramp, of course. Maybe if I clean her up somehow, we could…

"It's too much work, my dear, fuckable Kaede-chan," Moonbite whispered. "Just shove a pole through her fucking slimy, greasy face! Only then will she have true happiness!"

"You're right," I whispered.

"What am I right about?" Mayumi asked, and I jumped back to alertness.

"Oh, n…nothing," I said, squeezing the arms of my chair in uncertainty. There was no question…I'd love to mutilate Sakura. But I'd also like to befriend her. What to do, what to do…

* * *

(Rin's Point of View)

The smell of alcohol, puke, and shit greeted us immediately as the elevator plunged into the Oceliquot Club. The air was musky, and the rave music was so throbbingly loud that I couldn't hear Asa say something to me when she was right next to me.

I didn't know why this place was secret, but it certainly wasn't something classy. I grabbed Primula's hand, out of concern both for her and for anyone she might want to murder, and led us into the fray.

"HEY! NERINE-CHAN!" I yelled as loud as I could. A few demons seemed to hear me, but they turned away and went back to card games and mahjong. Each of them had corset-wearing, barely-clothed women in their laps.

Everyone looked much more unsavory here than any other demons I'd met back on Earth. I squeezed Primula's hand and she blushed and squeezed back, smiling at me with content. I really wanted to show her somehow that I did value her…but I wasn't really sure how I could.

I ran headlong into a young, black demon girl, who beamed at me and stuck out her chest. "Hey, you're hot!"

"Thanks," I said, but the noise seemed to swallow my voice whole. I screamed out to her, "Have you seen any demon girls here with blue hair?" If this girl was a prostitute, as I guessed, she probably wouldn't have a good idea what her realm's princess looked like. Maybe. Fuck if I know!

"Oh, you like bluenettes, huh?" she smiled, her eyes looking as dead and tired as the park manager up above. "They're right over there!" she signaled me over to a table in a corner of the club, which was a bit covered in smoke.

"Thank you," I said, giving her a curt smile, then turning to signal to the rest of my group.

However, they were all disorganized, and variously being propositioned by swarthy men. Except for Itsuki, of course, who I heard yell to a prostitute, "As you can see, my penis just happens to be a boner, and my testicles are quite large, too!" as she nodded in deep interest.

I shrugged and squeezed Primula's hand again. "Well, I guess it's you and me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" she yelled back, holding my hand against her soft, warm, sweat-drenched breasts. YUM! I gulped and led her over to the bluenettes' table, which was…Nerine-less.

"Damn," I said, although I was slightly relieved that she may not have actually become a prostitute. "Hey," I said to the women, "is there any way I can see a registry of everyone who works here?"

"Well, why don't you just take advantage of us instead, you sexy demon man!" the nearest hooker said, who was only wearing a ribbon across her nipples - a ribbon that she wasted no time in removing. The other seated bluenette demons all said their assent, many of them looking at my crotch area with interest. It WAS swollen, but only from Primula.

"Sorry, I'm not interested," I said as clearly as I could. The girl immediately looked furious and threw her hands over her breasts. "Like I said, is there an employee manifest or something I can see? I'm looking for a friend…"

"What's the matter? Don't like what you see?" I heard a more husky voice yell from directly behind me and Primula. We turned to see an older demon woman, who was somehow making gilded body armor look slutty. "We offer demon girls from many walks of life. Even…" she smiled slyly as her eyes fell on Primula, who glared back at her. "…younger…varieties…"

"I'm not interested," I said again, walking up to her. "I'm only looking for one girl, a friend. She may have come here. I just want to see your registry or something, to see if she was or is involved with the club in any way. Are you in charge?"

"Yes," the woman said, expertly flexing her bare hip to the side. "I run this club."

"It's a very nice club," I said, bowing out of respect. "Unfortunately, I'm not after the same thing as your usual customers."

She smiled and walked up to me, running a hand down my face to my neck. "You're really tense, you know. You need to just relax here; you've come a long way, right?"

"Can I or can I not see the manifest?" I said clearly.

"NO," she shouted. "That's not our policy! We offer tons and tons of beautiful women, and you can take whatever you see. But we're not in the habit of selling out our employees' information to random stalkers!"

"I'm not one," I sighed. "Isn't there some arrangement we can work out?"

"No. None of our women would ever WILLINGLY befriend a guy who looks like you," she said, her nose wrinkling in disgust. The bluenettes behind me assented. The air around Primula began to get threateningly frosty.

"Look," I said, giving Primula a look that told her to stay calm, "I'm on business looking for this girl FOR the lord of all demons, Forbesii-sama."

"Oh, changing your story now, are we?" the woman laughed.

"No. I'm looking for her as my friend, on Forbesii-sama's orders. I swear it."

"Hmmm…" she said, looking around with a sly smile returning to her face. "I wouldn't want to go against the Demon Lord's orders…"

"But?'

"You see, I have nothing to gain from giving her information to you…"

"Do you want money?"

She laughed. "I HAVE money. What I require is something more along the lines of…entertainment…" she said, looking me up and down.

"I'm…happy to oblige, whatever you want from me," I said, folding my arms. "As long as you let me see if Nerine-chan is here."

She grinned evilly and pulled over a fat, sweaty demon with a missing nose. They whispered to each other for a bit, and Asa, Daisy, and Matsuri managed to get back over to us.

"What's going on?" Asa screamed at me. The warmth flooded to me from her near, soft body and allowed me to relax a little.

"I'm gonna do something for them for entertainment!" I returned.

"Why?"

"They said they'll let me see their records or something if I do."

The armored woman turned back and approached us. "Okay, here is what you're going to do…you will engage in armed combat with five rounds of our finest champions. If you can defeat them all in combat, I'll let you use my resources to find your…" She narrowed her eyes. "Nerine-chan." She clearly knew something, or at least knew who Nerine was.

"Alright," I nodded. "I accept."

"You may take one partner with you into the pit," she said, looking over all of us. "We can supply one for you if you wish, since you seem to only have trashy-looking women as companions."

"TRASHY?" Daisy screamed in disbelief. I clamped my hand over her mouth so she wouldn't ruin my only chance at information. Hmm…but who should I take? Primula would be very dependable, and Matsuri can't hold a candle to either her or Daisy. However, Daisy might be able to heal us if we get injured, which would be a plus, and I could keep a better eye on her if she was with me in the pit, than if I left her to her whims up here in the bar.

Thus decided, I whispered in her ear, "Do you want to be my partner?"

She jumped away. "Ew, no!"

"My partner in combat, not a sex partner!" I yelled. "This way, you'll finally get to kill people…some more…"

"Oh! Well, okay, then!" she said, giving me a thumbs up. She sneered at the armored woman. "I'll make you regret calling me trashy, you fat, wrinkly fuck!"

"Really?" the woman returned. "We shall see." She smiled. "I look forward to seeing what the both of you have to offer.

I told Asa to watch over Primula, and then followed the woman to the dark end of the bar with Daisy grumbling behind me.

* * *

After a moment of preparation and another of going through dripping steel corridors beneath the club, Daisy and I found ourselves in an open room that must have been the pit. Many ugly faces of drunk demon men leered down at us from the balconies above (which were probably on the main floor of the bar). I couldn't see any of my friends' faces among them, but there were so many to scan at once that it was hard to say. The ground was covered with blood-stained woodchips.

"Are you alright?" I asked Daisy, who was twirling her black steel club around gleefully.

"Of course! Although it sucks that I have to fight alongside you! Of all the worthless fucks I could have possibly had…" she sneered.

I shook my head and unsheathed Moonbite's black blade. I would ordinarily have been extremely anxious from being in a situation like this, but the hungry crowd and the possibility of upcoming carnage seemed to make me alive in a way I'd never felt before. I was actually looking forward to butchering people, to slicing them to death. It was probably due to Moonbite's influence as well as the demon part of my soul, but that wasn't going to stop me from using my bloodthirst to succeed. I really, REALLY hoped Nerine wasn't in her employ…maybe if I performed well enough here, the gods of fortune would smile on me and prevent her from being a prostitute.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" a phlegm-drenched voice sounded from the speakers. Everyone cheered, and one person vomited down onto the woodchips, quite close to Daisy, who screamed. "We've got a great show lined up for ya; look at these two pussies!"

The crowd roared with laughter.

"I give you…today's victims…I mean, GLADIATORS! Rin-kun, and Daisy-chan!"

The laughs continued, and me and Daisy just grinned at each other as we nimbly dodged broken bottles and semen-covered chairs as they were thrown down at us.

"They have got to be the skinniest, weakest-looking fuckers WE'VE EVER HAD! Is that guy even a dude? He looks like he's fresh out of a sex-change op, ladies and gentlemen!"

I laughed and waved at them, happily absorbing more anger to put into my performance.

"It's true," Daisy snickered at me.

"And this girl's a god, yet she's FIGHTING? Against demon gladiators, no less! What the fuck is wrong with her?

Daisy started laughing darkly, fondling her club.

"Not to mention, she's BUTT ugly!"

A vein popped on her forehead from that one.

"Now, then, everyone place your bets on how quickly they'll DIE!" Everyone cheered, and a few moments later, the gate at the opposite end, revealing a squad of barbarian-looking warriors, all of them fully armored, much more massive than I was, and with giant shields and a variety of bladed weapons.

As the announcer introduced our opponents, I walked over to Daisy. "I think that guy on the right has some sort of ammunition. We should take him out first."

"I'll get him," she said, nodding to me. "But what are you gonna be able to do? Aren't you like a weak, little bitch?"

"We'll see," I said, holding my blade up to her. "This sword supposedly automatically kills anyone who touches it but me. We'll see if that holds true."

"Fair enough," she said.

"Are you two done having sex yet?" the announcer demanded of us. The crowd laughed, probably because he said the word "sex."

"Yes, and it was terrible!" Daisy said with a big smile. Everyone laughed again. The people must have at least liked her a little bit. Or else they were drunk. I dodged a person's decapitated head that was lobbed down next to me from above.

"Hey, come here, pussies! We don't wanna hurt ya!" the lead barbarian said, pulling out his penis to show us, as a taunt probably. "We just wanna fuck your sweet asses!"

"I'm a guy, you know," I said.

"I don't give a shit! You're HOT!"

I laughed nervously.

"BEGIN!" the announcer shouted. A deafening roar fell over the pit as I dashed as fast as I could to the guy who taunted me, impaling his skull with my sword before he had a chance to block. I quickly pulled it out and parried the giant razor blade being swung towards me from the guy on the left. The guy on the right stabbed me in the back with a spear. I used the pain to propel me even faster, kicking the guy I'd been swordfighting with in the crotch, before swinging my blade into the spearwielder's arm, lobbing it off. He coughed a few times before his skin turned grey, and he dropped to the ground, dead. I guess Moonbite's sword really does work!

As I fought the other two guys with a vengeance, I saw Daisy finish off the guy with the guns in the back, before coming and plunging her club into someone else, grinding him into a bloody patty on the ground.

I outslashed the razor guy and nicked him on his shoulder, his soul abandoning his body immediately, while Daisy clomped her club into the other three guys one after another, crunching through their shields and armor with ease.

I finished my final adversary off with a lazy swing, and silence greeted the two of us as we stood over the vat of corpses. I heard some girls cheering, and traced the source of the sound sound up to Tsubomi and Asa from above. I waved to them gratefully as the hoard of demons glared at them (although some seemed to be entertaining lewd thoughts, judging by their blatant rape faces).

"A-alighhhty then, that was pretty fast," the announcer said in shock. "But they were just our warm-up for today! Let's hear it for these pussy gladiators!" Some more hesitant applause greeted us.

"Good job, Daisy-chan," I said honestly.

"Fuck you!" she returned warmly. "Don't try to get on my good side, you miserable faggot!"

I shrugged. "I don't really care about that, but…do you think you could heal me?" I turned to show her my spear wound.

She sighed and incanted her healing spell, sealing the wound.

"Thanks."

She flipped me off as the announcer said, "Well, folks, they won't last long against their next opponents: The Blood Mages of Ax City! They're so powerful, their practices have been ruled illegal. These bitches won't stand a chance!"

The new group consisted of four eerily-smiling demons in pointy, blood-red hats. They didn't speak, but instead began spellcasting immediately.

"Oh, uh, BEGIN!" the announcer screamed, as Daisy and I dashed forward. Some sort of rune had been traced on the ground, so I jumped over it and slashed through the two on the left, killing them both immediately. Daisy, for her part, propelled herself high into the air by striking the floor with her club, before twirling it around above her in the air and then pile-driving it down on her first target, pureeing him instantly into liquid.

The remaining guy began to glow an intense violet, and I felt quite a bit of discomfort in my blood veins, but I simply skipped over and ran him through with my sword. The crowd was much more supportive this time. After I withdrew the sword from his intestines, Daisy cracked her club through the blood mage's head and then slapped his limp body back and forth around on the floor, for good measure.

"My…my goodness," the announcer said. "Um, next up, our gladiators will fight a squad from the expert mercenary guild the Mutilated Falcons!"

Said Falcons came through the gate looking quite pompous. "You two skanks will regret ever contemplating being born, after we're through with you," the lead Demon said.

I shrugged, not especially daunted. "Let's see what you've got!"

"BEGIN!" the announcer screamed, and I immediately noticed a greater organization in the movements of the squad. Darts spewed at us from the perimeter, and their swordsmen dashed at us, blades held high.

Daisy swung mightily and struck most of the approaching group. I raced to the dart-spitters, slashing everyone I could on the way, and jumping off their corpses to gain an advantage on the snipers. I dove through the air and butchered one spitter with no problem, and then approached the other three, being extremely cautious about where they were aiming. A couple other guys approached me, but I murdered them with no problem as I chased the snipers.

Daisy, apparently done with the others, came up behind my targets and just broke them into unrecognizable splatters of jiggling organs.

"Is that it?" I grinned. Daisy laughed and nodded in agreement.

The crowd was now seemingly quite excited. I waved up at our friends. Primula was grinning eagerly. She looked so cute, I wanted to kiss her passionately, actually, but I would have to control myself, I guess.

"O-okay, then. We're gonna do something a little different this time!" the announcer said, now sounding a little nervous. I wondered if something bad would happen to him if he didn't kill us off for his boss. Gods, I hope so. "Brought in from the demon-constructed continent of A.P.C., we have the Yuami twins, masters of the soul. And they're pretty good with scissor-blades, too!"

Two young-looking, nude demons floated in, one male and one female.

"Well, this should be even faster than usual," Daisy snorted. I was less confident though…I had had enough interactions with Forbesii to know that soul-manipulation magic was something extremely powerful and not to be taken lightly. Hopefully we'd be able to just dust them before they were able to do anything…

"BEGIN!" the announcer screamed in fright, and Daisy and I took off running at them. We didn't get far, though. Once the twins opened their glowing eyes, I lost consciousness momentarily and felt like I was being flushed through an enormous, kaleidoscopic drainpipe.

I gasped and became aware of my surroundings again, but something was off…I was standing where Daisy had just been. I felt WEIRD, too! I looked down and saw two enormous breasts staring up at me from my chest.

"Okay, what the FUCK?" I yelled, but clamped a hand over my mouth in shock…it was Daisy's hoarse, angry voice, not mine.

I looked over to her and, sure enough, another me was standing on the opposite side of the pit, also looking at himself in shock and disgust. We must have switched bodies – I was in Daisy's and she in mine.

The Twins landed on the ground and unveiled an extra pair of arms each. Each arm was wielding some sort of foreign, two pronged hook blade. Which meant we'd be facing roughly 16 blades at once.

Fucking lovely.

I looked to Daisy again, cautiously, and jumped when I saw her stick her hands down her pants, wide-eyed. She screamed in fright, apparently upon feeling my genitals. "MY ORGANS ARE SPILLING OUT!"

The two demons were leering and approaching us slowly. They looked a little hungry, I thought, if their extreme emanciation was any indication.

"Daisy-chan, please focus!" I called. "I'll need your help!"

She sniffed loudly. "I…I THINK….I'm gonna cry…" She squatted down and rocked back and forth. She touched her nuts again and screamed in sorrow.

"Just…just try to IGNORE your penis, okay?"

"I CAN'T!" she sobbed. "It feels so WEIRD!" She stood up again and started hopping again, touching my balls and then whipping her hand away in horror. "Don't you feel weird, too?" she asked me.

"Eh, I've had SO many strange things happen, that it doesn't really bug me," I said boredly. "Your body is actually…" I ran my hands gently over her breasts, and gasped at the sizzlingly comfortable sensation. "Really kind of nice-feeling!"

"YOU PERVERT!" Daisy sobbed, walking at me, but then stopping and screaming. "M-my penis rubbed up against my underwear!" She collapsed on the ground. Clearly, she wasn't going to be much help.

The two Shiva-like demons were getting quite close. I walked over to her and leaned over. "Daisy-chan, all you have to do is TOUCH them with your blade. Remember how much you like to kill things?"

She nodded tearfully.

"Then focus on how much pain you want to cause them for giving you a dick. Okay?"

She sucked in a bunch of air and stood up. "I'll try," she sobbed. She looked up at our friends. "Wow…all of a sudden, I think Primula-chan's really hot! As a matter of fact, she's damn fuckable!" She chuckled, and then looked down to see her newly-developed boner, at which her face paled considerably. "Wh-wh…"

"That's an erection," I sighed, getting nervous from the demons.

She gulped. "That is the scariest thing I've ever…what kind of a FUCKED UP person decided penises should exist, ANYWAY?"

I smacked her in the face. "Listen, I'll go behind them and try to distract them, okay? They don't seem very fast…I hope. Do you think you can sneak a slash in while they're turned around?"

"I, I think so," she said, lowering the blade to the penis – my penis – apparently preparing to slice it off.

"Daisy-chan, if you do that, it will be a LOT more uncomfortable for you than you are right now, trust me."

"Dammit. This is sick, sick, sick SHIT we're dealing with!" she said, followed by a sigh.

Judging that my dick was safe enough for the moment, I dashed around to the area behind the twins. I made a few preliminary swings with Daisy's club, to test it out, and then ran up to them and swung at the male one.

He turned his head and parried the club with two of his arms. I swung a couple more times, trying to whack aside as many blades as possible with each pass. His sister ran up and also laid down a torrent of blades.

Daisy slid forward on the ground and actually managed to nick the foot of the brother, which killed him before he had a chance to complete his slash towards her.

"Good job, Daisy-chan," I said as I continued spinning my club in a circle to try and dodge all the girl's furious sword swipes.

"Th-thank you," she said shyly, scampering around to the girl's backside. The girl turned her attention to Daisy momentarily, so I took the opportunity and smashed her with my club. It was actually quite pleasant, feeling the cracking of her shoulders and ribs reverberate throughout the club's entirety.

Daisy danced up and stabbed Moonbite's sword through the girl's eye, and her body turned gray and dried-up immediately.

"YAY!" we sang, dancing around like retards. I then realized. "Wait…we didn't change back yet?"

"NO!" Daisy screamed in horror, dropping down on the ground and tossing woodchips in her mouth, chewing on them urgently.

"Careful, Daisy-chan, I'm…I'm sure we'll go back to normal sometime," I said, trying to sound encouraging. Man, all that violence made me really, REALLY wet down there. I was a little embarrassed about the intense dampness of my panties, so I instead focused my attention on getting Daisy up off the ground and punching her in the back of the head to make her spit out the woodchips.

"You, you smell like vagina," Daisy giggled. "You have a really good nose, Rin-kun."

"And you're being oddly pleasant now that you're in my body."

She beamed. "That's probably because you're a fairy little bitch!"

"I know, right?" I smiled back.

The announcer had been talking, but I wasn't listening. The gates opened, however, to reveal a behemoth-sized slug thing, which looked like it had thick hide. It had three mouths (one on each side of its head), all of which were quite decked out with fangs.

"I'm scared, Rin-kun!" Daisy said, hugging me. She looked at me oddly. "Why…do I want to fuck the living shit out of you, now that you're in my body?"

"I assure you, the feeling is NOT mutual," I lied. Our bodies did feel quite marvelous together. My crotch was feeling quite receptive to Daisy's boner, at the moment. "You're probably just freaking out and want to find comfort in the first person you see."

"You're right," she said, pulling me back and forth. "Comfort me, please, Rin-kuuuun!"

The slug thing had been slithering towards us, but now opted to lunge straight for us. We screamed and kicked off each other, launching across the pit in opposite directions.

"Stab him, Daisy-chan!" I yelled, smashing my club as hard as I could into its side. Tentacles ripped out and slithered around my body, dragging me along the dirt with it.

"GGGRAAAHH!" I heard her scream, and the slug abruptly stopped moving completely. She must have made contact, and it worked!

The tentacles laid limp now, so I slid out from them, taking a few moments to fondle my breasts before Daisy could see me. It felt SO ridiculously pleasant, I thought I might die from finally being so at peace. At that precise moment, that psychedlic slurpy thing happened again to my mind (it must have had some kind of time limit), and I found myself in my own body again, looking at Moonbite's blade sticking out of the slug's hide. I grinned and retrieved it, noticing as I did that my underwear was quite sticky. I didn't know how, but she had apparently ejaculated recently while using my body.

I climbed over the beast and grinned at her as the announcer remained inaudible over the exuberant crowd. "So, Daisy-chan," I said. "I guess you didn't mind having a penis so much by the end, huh?"

"Shut up! I don't like you OR your penis!" she said, looking quite pouty about it.

"Whatever you say," I grinned. "Come on, let's go talk to the manager bitch lady person!"

"Fuck you. I never should have come here. FUCK you, Rin-kun."

"Yeah, yeah."

At length, we found ourselves in the company of our group again.

"Did you guys change bodies?" Asa said. "We were trying to figure out what was…"

"Yes, and it was HORRIBLE!" Daisy screamed. "I had a penis…and…and then I…" Her eyes glazed over with horror.

"Dude…I'm so JEALOUS," Itsuki said, drooling at Daisy's breasts. "What was it like, Rin-kun?"

"But you're back now, right?" Primula said uncertainly.

"Yup. Anyway, we did what she asked," I said, brushing myself off, as well as ignoring Itsuki's question. "So let's go see if she'll make good on her bargain."

After prying Primula's limbs off me, I led her and everyone else to the armored woman from before.

"Who…ARE you?" she asked incredulously. "No one has defeated a Ziroktula beast before in all of Osirian history!"

"Really?" I said, skeptical.

"Oh, yes," Istsuki said, who I just now noticed was not wearing any pants at the moment. "The Ziroktula beast is resistant to all kinds of known magic, and its hide repels nearly any physical threat, whatsoever." He laughed. "I was really sure that you were dead when that thing came out!"

"You sound like you were so worried," I said wryly.

"Nope, not at all! Cuz then I could all your extremely beautiful women!" he said, winking at the others. "And I dare say I'd use them a lot better than you have, so far."

I sighed and regarded the armored woman. "So, will you give me your information?"

"NO!" she snapped. "You were only supposed to defeat them, NOT kill them! Now my regular entertainment for each month is gone! Do you know how much money went into…"

"I don't know, and I don't care," I roared, stalking up to her, pushing her towards the bar. "ALL I want is to see your records, NOW! ALRIGHT, WHORE?"

"Rin-kun…" Ruri began, but I growled at her to back away.

"I won't. I have standards! I won't sell out my precious girls to the likes of you!"

I grabbed her roughly, turned her around, and slammed her face into the wooden bar. She screamed in pain as blood streamed out, away from her smashed face.

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS RIGHT NOW, YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!" I screamed into her ears, taking pleasure in her shaking sobs. This was actually a great position…it would be kind of fun to take off her armor and fuck the shit out of her ass…but I won't…I still do have morals and self-control.

Instead, I brandished Moonbite's blade and hovered it over her neck. "If you don't tell me EXACTLY WHERE Princess Nerine is, I'll cut off your head right now!"

Asa came up to me then, "Rin-kun, please calm down!"

"BACK THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, BITCH!" I seethed with a huge grin, taking pleasure in the evident hurt on her face

"She…she went North…" I heard the manager say in a muffled voice.

I picked her up by her hair, keeping the blade hovering right next to her neck. "OH? So, she does work here, does she? How very interesting…" I licked off some of the blood that was running down her face. "What do you know?"

"Sh-she was hired for a night by a gang about seven miles from here, in the desert. She should still be there right now."

"Thank you. See? That wasn't hard, was it?" I grinned wickedly.

The woman gave a nervous smile. "Um, she's going by an alias: Ai. That's why I didn't realize she was the princess until you said something."

"Very interesting," I said, plopping her down on the bar, now feeling like I was much more in control. "Thank you, you've been very helpful."

She nodded, still quite frightened, saying, "Um, and, and…you can have a free pick of any of our women…whenever you want!"

"Really?" Itsuki said eagerly, after which Tsubomi shocked him again.

"Don't insult me!" I screamed, smacking her with a closed fist. Blood sprinkled out from her face quite elegantly. "Why would I, MADAM MOONBITE, lower myself to the likes of YOUR pathetic whores?"

I pulled her off and threw her onto the ground, and stomped on her neck a few times. She croaked pitifully and vomited blood, and I whirled and stalked out of the club, grinning massively.

I noticed my face was a little weird-feeling though. I put my hand up and was horrified to feel a huge amount of moss having grown on the right side of my face. I moved my fingers around fearfully, noticing that I had grown a small, facial tentacle as well.

"No…" I whispered, stopping cold in the bar. "I'm turning into her too fast…" At this rate, by the time I found Nerine, I might be too far gone for any god to want to marry me.

I suddenly realized what I had discovered: Nerine was a prostitute now, or so it appeared. And, no matter the reason, it wouldn't have happened if I had kept her as my fiancée. It's my fault, clear and simple. I have to save her, before she destroys herself too much!

Thus resolved, I stomped back to the elevator with renewed vigor, uncaring whether anyone else was coming or not.

I am desperate now.

* * *

**A/N: **That was good times, right there! (by me, at least) I must say, it's refreshing to get the characters out and about for once. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it.

As usual, please review with any comments about your reading experience, no matter how tangential they might be. Any advice or preferences about things you'd like to see happen? What worked and what didn't work for you? I am intent on making this story as good as possible, and I need your help to do it!

Hopefully the next update will come within the week! Three-day weekend and all that. Thank the gods for the Fourth! =D


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **Well, the adventure continues here. This one's by far the most horrific of all my recent chapters, but I think it should be pretty fun, all the same. Thanks for your perpetual readership!

Two things:

a. Long wait occurred once again. This was not intentional. One never knows when or where Writer's Block will strike! You had best watch your back!

b. I finally got that long-desired "You are a &#$%ing sicko!" review I've always expected! While that reaction isn't necessarily my _aim_ with this story…it's definitely an entertaining response.

Oh, also make sure to check out my new, Primu-centric fic, 80 Years Alone! I started it during Writer's Block season. XD

And now…MOONBITE!

**Shuffle!**

**Moonbite**

**Chapter 17**

(_Rin's Point of View_)

_Oceliquot Club, Osiria_

Just before the gate of my escape elevator closed, my friends came running through the smoggy air.

"What the fuck is this, Rin-kun! Hold it!" Daisy yelled.

I scrambled to find the Open Doors button, but after not finding one, I jumped forward and did my best to block the gate from closing, myself, using both arms, with my back to the wall.

"Thanks, Rin-kun!" Asa said, arriving first and squeezing through underneath my arms (I did my best not to concentrate on her ridiculously lovely body since I was struggling against a mechanized motor, at the moment).

"Did you think we wanted to stay here?" Daisy demanded, hesitating at first, and then doing her best to crawl through without touching me, though failing to do so.

"Hurry, everyone!" Matsuri said, dragging along a seemingly intoxicated Itsuki as Primula and Tsubomi struggled to free themselves from the clutches of grabby demon men and women who were trying to fondle them.

"Holy SHIT, that place was nasty," Primula gasped as she came in, last. I grunted and jumped back into the elevator, after which the gate slammed into its slot with a crash.

The lift shuddered and began its uncertain ascent back up to the Phantom Fair. I did my best not to make eye contact with anyone, ashamed of losing my delicate control over my rage and thereafter abandoning them. I did enjoy having people with me, but if they didn't want to come along any longer, than I didn't want to waste any time trying to keep them. I had to find Nerine, as soon as physically possible, before the worst happened. She has only been employed by the Oceliquot for a couple days now, so it's still pretty good timing. I can only hope that somehow she's remained pure…

"Rin-kun, it looks like you're starting to rot again," Asa said gently, walking up to me. I noticed Matsuri glare at me jealously, but what was I supposed to do about it?

"What? Oh, oh yeah. I think it happens the more emotionally invested I get in something, especially with anger. Maybe." I said, feeling too unworthy to meet Asa's gaze.

"Mm, it's a good thing Daisy-sempai doesn't have that disease, then," Tsubomi snickered. Daisy promptly punched her in the back of the head.

"You're only proving her point," Itsuki chuckled, and Daisy swiftly kicked him in the balls in response, now red-faced from anger.

"Here, allow me," Asa said, now directly in front of my face. Her scent was lusciously, deliriously alive. She brought her fingers up to the mossy half of my face and started to peel some off.

"I-is that really gonna help?" I asked, not at all sure what to do with my hands. I knew what I wanted to do with them, though.

"I think it hopefully should, especially if you wash it soon," she said, sounding oddly monotone for her usually peppy self. "I did this for you a lot when you were in the hospital, when you were in your coma."

"Oh, really? Thanks a bunch!" My heart soared with warmth, knowing she still cared about me enough to try and prevent my rotting completely away. Now both Primula and Matsuri were looking at us jealously.

"Not a problem at all." She peeled some more until she reached the tentacle dangling off the side of my face. After looking around briefly, she said, "Ruri-chan, could you c-"

Before she even finished her sentence, Matsuri had sprung up alongside us, her chest galloping marvelously. I swear I tried my best not to look, they were just bouncing WAY too much not to notice. Fortunately for Matsuri, I think I saw Asa looking at them, too. "Yes, Sempai?"

"Uh, what?…Oh, do you think it'd be alright to cut off Rin-kun's tentacle?" Asa asked Matsuri.

"I don't see why it wouldn't be," she responded, winking at me. "Unless part of his brain's in there now!"

"Don't even joke about that, Ruri-chan," I laughed softly.

"Are YOU alright with it?" Primula said, coming up and shyly taking my hand, finally giving me something to do with it.

"Slice away," I said with a small smile. "I don't think Nerine-chan will prefer me having an extra limb on my face when I propose to her."

Matsuri swiftly unsheathed her silver, symbol-covered katana and chopped off the tentacle, letting loose a spurt of blood that Asa ducked to dodge with a scream.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Alright! That was kickass, Rin!

The girls and I had deeply enjoyed seeing him and Daisy reap an assortment of carnage that made even me envious. Plus, it's Rin…it's guaranteed to be incredibly sexy!

The one problem was that Moonbite comment he made…that one curdled my blood. I wondered how far gone he was now. He's certainly flirting with the fringes of sanity right now. I would know, having been there.

The doorbell rang. "Go and get it, bitch!" I sneered at Sakura.

"Yes, Kaede-chan," she said with a sigh, rising up and going to the door, still rubbing her anus from yesterday.

"Who is it?" Mayumi called from the kitchen.

"The fuck do I know! The door's not open yet!" I snapped.

"Don't talk to me like that, Kaede-chan," she said, coming out and folding her arms.

"Geez, don't be so sensitive," I scowled at her.

Meanwhile, Sakura opened the door to reveal…

"HELLO EVERYONE!" Forbesii sang, stomping through. "Sakura-chan! Good to see you again! I see you've kept your titties in great shape. MWAH! Magnifique!"

"Hi, Forbesii-sama," Sakura said with a twinge of annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, see, I was on my way – oh, hello, Kaede-chan! – back to my mansion when I caught a whiff of an enormous amount of horny female genitals," he said gregariously. "Naturally, I just happened to find myself coming in here soon after."

"Forbesii-sama!" Mayumi said, coming in from the kitchen, bringing a tray of baked snacks with her. "How are you?"

"Not too bad, Mayumi-chan. Have you, um, ever thought about plastic surgery?"

"Have you, um, ever thought about BITING ME?"

"Hahaha, oh, girls, always so hilariously sensitive about their breasts," Forbesii chuckled. He finally noticed what was on the TV. "Hey, what's this?"

"Oh! Th-this is prerecorded footage we have of our friends," I said hurriedly.

"Y-yeah, we just like to put it in sometimes, so we can watch Rin-kun. Nothing to see here!" Sakura supplied.

"Yup, just move along!" Mayumi recommended cheerily.

"Is that so?" Forbesii queried with a raised eyebrow. "Why, then, is it the same exact group of people that left for the Demon Realm yesterday?"

"W-well…" I said.

"This is great!" Forbesii shouted, collapsing in a chair and taking a handful of Mayumi's snacks. "Now I can watch their progress while they're searching for my Nerine-chan!"

"Fuck," I muttered.

"I guess that's the end of our masturbation sessions," Mayumi whispered.

"Oh, just pretend like I'm not here," Forbesii said, staring at my breasts intently while licking his lips.

Normally, I'd just kick an unwanted person out of my house, but…I was pretty sure that Forbesii had unlimited power, and could destroy me without even lifting a finger.

So, our little trio of girls apparently just became a quartet of three girls and a pervy old man.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

The elevator shuddered to a halt and the party disembarked through the now-sluggish gate.

"So where are we going now?" Itsuki beamed, flopping all over the place.

"Well, you're our main navigator," I laughed, "Shouldn't you know?"

"Hey, I don't know anything that's going on anymore!" Itsuki chuckled, tipping backwards onto the cotton candy booth. Tsubomi struggled to help him back up.

I heard Asa clear her throat, so I gave her my full attention. "Rin-kun…I think we need to talk about everything, if we're all going to remain on board with you."

I sighed. "We're on kind of a time crunch here, Sempai. We don't want to lose our trail."

"Rin-kun," Asa said sharply. "We have to know what's going on, like Itsuki-kun said. Can we even still trust you?"

"Of COURSE you-"

"What's to stop you from going crazy and calling yourself Madam Moonbite like you did in the bar, and attacking all of us?" Asa continued, looking at me quite seriously. A thunderclap rumbled as she said that.

I hadn't realized I'd actually referred to myself as Moonbite. That wasn't good…

"You don't have to worry about that," Daisy winked. "I'll just beat him to a wet, greasy pulp."

"Yup, see?" I grinned. "Alright, well…can we at least start walking while we talk?"

Asa sighed. "I suppose…it's probably too late to turn back now, after all."

I patted her twice on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Sempai." I turned to Itsuki. "Hey man, which way's north? The owner of the club said Nerine-chan's about seven miles up that way."

"Well!" Itsuki said, holding on tightly to Tsubomi, who was licking his armpit, "the sun is behind us, so we should go straight right, I reckon."

"You reckon?" Daisy repeated. "How certain is that?"

"I dunno," Itsuki said, peeling his fiancee out from his armpit and making out with her anew. As she moaned and started humping him, the rest of us all gagged and looked at each other in fear.

"Alright, so…let's go, then?" I suggested.

"Wait!" Tsubomi said, pulling away from Itsuki's mouth with a smacking pop. "I don't think Itsuki-tan's sober enough to keep up! We should wait here for at least an hour."

"You've gotta be kidding," Daisy seethed. "I hate this creepy fucking place. I'd rather go back down to the fucking whorehouse."

"Well," I said, "I hate to admit it, but Tsubomi-chan's right. We'll have to wait for him to sober up. He knows the landmarks and culture better than us, anyway. How about you and whoever else hates it here leaves the park, and the rest of us can just chill here while we're waiting?"

"Sounds good," she said. "Come on, normal people!" Her and Tsubomi walked away, dragging Itsuki through the mud.

"Ooh, can we ride something?" Primula asked immediately.

I tousled her hair. "We might as well. You've never been to a theme park before, right?" She shook her head, looking at me longingly. And how could I possibly resist that?

"Have you ever been to a theme park before, Asa-sempai?" Matsuri gasped.

Asa cleared her throat. "Um, yeah, lots of times."

"No way, me too!" Matsuri giggled.

During another flash of lightning, I saw the manager come bounding up to us. "I heard you were interested in going on some, mwahahahaRIDES?"

"Yep," I said, "We'd like to do the Ferris Wheel, if you don't mind."

"Oh," he said, leaning forward excitedly. "You won't be disappointed."

He led us through the rain and mud to said Wheel and opened the door to one of the pods.

"It's two to a pod," he beamed, yanking open the sticky door. I personally hoped it didn't smell like it looked in there.

"I'm with Rin-kun!" both Primula and Asa said, simultaneously grabbing one of my hands and squeezing it to their own chest. I gasped and tried to picture old men being ripped apart by vultures to avoid getting yet another erection. Which was quite hard, as the feel of their breasts gave me a very good mental image.

"Well, in that case," Matsuri said, skipping up and seizing Asa with a backhug. "I'll take Asa-sempai and then it'll work out fine!"

"Sorry, Matsuri-chan, Primu-chan," I said, grabbing Asa's hand and pulling her away nervously. "Me and her need to have a long overdue chat." Since both Primula and Matsuri looked quite hurt, I quickly looked to Asa to see if she approved. And she looked extremely happy, so I guess that's that.

"Alright! First, the girls can go in, since you two lose at the game of life, like me!" the manager sang.

Matsuri glared at him, but Primula seemed to get over her hurt fairly quickly and pulled the sexually-confused girl in the first pod, saying "Why don't we get some good practice in, Matsuri?"

"Wh-wh-what? I-I-I don't need any practice!" Matsuri sputtered.

Asa smiled quite contentedly and embraced me from the side. "The only reason I came on this trip was the hope of spending some time with you," she murmured, which made my heart beat out several racehorses with its galloping.

"And for the incredibly sexy couple!" the manager said, the next pod having arrived. I led Asa in, flinching as I stepped on the extremely squishy floor. The pod didn't really have any particularly foul odor, but it definitely seemed to set a heavily organic atmosphere. Asa and I sat down together on the wet, squishy seat, our hips touching.

"It…um…it's kind of…passionate…in here!" I laughed. "In a way?" DAMN, I'm so bad when alone with girls. "Uh…I'd like to say sorry…for what I said in the bar, when I yelled at you. I wasn't myself, and I certainly never have any feelings even vaguely similar to those when I am myself, and…"

Asa sighed and put her arm around me, pulling me into her. I gulped and looked up at her glowing, sexy face to avoiding the sight of her quite holy and flawless bosom.

"Rin-kun…are you doing alright?" she asked, her voice wavering a little.

"Well…to tell you the truth, I'm really stressed out. You know, since I have to marry a god in order to exorcise a demon spirit from my soul," I rattled off sarcastically. I tried to drink in the moment of peace with her.

"Wh-what do you mean, a demon spirit?" she asked, surprised.

Asa stroked my chest and hair soothingly as I recounted everything that I knew about Moonbite and her possession of me as her vessel.

"So, I'm slowly going to turn more into her every day," I finished, "Despite having this new, resilient body." I figured it was alright to put my arms around her, since her hands were both on me. She giggled and pulled me farther into her. YES! I was now flush with her soft body.

"I had no idea…I'm sorry for getting on you about not being yourself," she said, stumping me for a moment. I realized she must have been referring to what she told me when we were out hunting for zorillas and when we were drinking together in the cone.

"Well, it's alright, you know…" I sighed, resting my weight on her. "I need to try harder to control myself anyway. I'm having a lot of issues with various, um…temptations." Like the extremely predatory thoughts I'm having right now.

Nerine-chan, Nerine-chan! I must keep thinking of Nerine-chan! She needs me to hold out for her!

"I know, but…I realize now that what I said to you in the cone, that one night, isn't necessarily true," Asa murmured, kissing my hair. "At a certain point, extenuating circumstances can excuse changed behavior. I think you're doing a really good job."

"Th-thanks, Asa-sempai. And I really appreciate you coming with me."

"I'll always do anything that you ask, Rin-kun. No matter what. If you want me to never leave you, then I won't," she said, squeezing me in yet another hug. Damn it…I am definitely hard now.

"So…" I said, casting around wildly for something to talk about. "What are your thoughts on Ruri-chan?"

Asa grinned. "Well, she's kind of annoying, but she is definitely cute. Why, do you like her?"

I smiled. "No, she's just a friend."

"I see. Well, it's good to have some just-friends," Asa said, stretching in a way that seemed to inflate her bust size. "I'm happy to be that for you, if you want, or, you know…something…um…" she trailed off, looking away from me.

I hugged her tightly and she made a small moan before embracing me with nearly equal force. It felt incredibly comfortable and nostalgic to be up here with my earliest crush, with no need to rush or do anything, since our time on the ride was restricted to a set amount. Here, I could escape. I could hold her gorgeous, petite body against mine for as long as I wanted, without worrying about my quest, my mission. I'm off the hook to just hold her.

"Asa-sempai," I said, swallowing and stroking the back of her neck. "Is it okay to just be friends…for now?"

"Of course, Rin-kun," she murmured, squeezing me against herself even tighter. "If that's what you need, I'll be as good a friend as I can possibly be. I'll…never let you go."

We spent the rest of the ride simply holding each other, soaking up the support the other person was offering. It was a great time. My heart finally stopped pounding and I found a very momentary respite, but one I desperately needed.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

After an aggravatingly long wait, Rin, the tranny, and his two new concubines rejoined Daisy and proceeded to set out across the desert. Once again, Daisy obediently took up her spot in the back, which gave my girls and I great view of Rin's squeezable ass.

Forbesii, meanwhile, switched between boring us with insipid tales of Osirian history and legend – which none of us gave a shit about, I'm sure – and describing how much he liked Daisy's breasts.

"Honestly, yeah, it's great for her that they bounce so much," Sakura said, "but it's totally making me sick to watch."

"Really? It just makes me hard!" Forbesii grinned.

"Good for you," she muttered.

"I hope they find Nerine-chan soon," Matsuri said, "before she gets taken against her will by someone…"

"GAHHH! I'll kill them for touching my Nerine-chan!" Forbesii roared, standing up and seeming to suck the light out of the room as he shook his hands with fury.

"It's okay, it's okay! Rin-kun will find her before something happens to her!" Sakura said worriedly, patting him on the arm.

"Ah, whew. You're right. he's a reliable young demon," Forbesii allowed the brightness back into the room and re-collapsed in the chair. That was certainly a brief fit of rage.

I gasped when I looked back at the TV screen.

"What is it?" the girls asked.

"…What?" Sakura asked incredulously, when she turned to the TV as well. Apparently she could see her too.

A naked Matsuri was walking next to Rin, talking to him. That wasn't terrifying in itself, but there was something off about that Matsuri…she felt wrong, somehow, besides the fact that she was naked.

As I watched, entranced, I moved to sit next to Sakura. "Can you see her?" I murmured.

"Yeah," Sakura said, looking at me with confusion. "Why do you ask?"

I wasn't sure. Just a feeling.

"What? See who? Who are we looking for?" Mayumi asked.

The nude Matsuri's eyes were glowing a very familiar, deadened yellow. "Moonbite?" I whispered.

As soon as the words left my lips, the Matsuri swiveled her head to look RIGHT AT ME from the TV, causing my whole body to go cold. Sakura gasped next to me.

"What's going on, girls?" Forbesii said in concern.

"There's a naked girl there, looking RIGHT at us!" I cried, pointing at Moonbite, unable to take my eyes off her. It almost hurt how intensely she was leering at me. Her smile was awful…so wicked it transcended the bounds of the human face.

Sakura began jerking around next to me. I tore my eyes away and noticed that a large amount of blood was bursting from her nose. "It's her! It's her!" she squeaked, continuing to spasm around like someone was giving her a severe beatdown.

"Rin-kun? I have a question!" Moonbite said, turning her head towards Rin but still looking right at me through the TV.

"…Yeah?" he muttered.

"What do you think about Kaede-chan?"

"Don't even MENTION that name!" he growled.

I whimpered, feeling like I'd just been stabbed. He hates me…he really DESPISES me!

"Aw, don't you love her, though?"

"Who could ever love someone as fucked up as that?" he snarled, not sounding like himself. The others in his group looked at him with concern.

"But, you dumped Sakura and the others for her. Didn't you say that you loved Kaede-chan more than all of them?"

Sakura had pulled herself together and was watching the TV intently again, a finger to her gushing nose.

"…Yes…I loved her. But it was a mistake; I never should have done that. Now leave me alone!" he commanded.

The Matsuri-Moonbite let out a trilling laugh. "So, she had it all and she ruined it forever for herself, huh?"

"Absolutely. I hope she kills herself," Rin growled.

Moonbite started laughing hysterically, looking straight at me. Terror and despair coursed through me as her glowing eyes encompassed me. The laughing, the laughing, the laughing!

It's too much!

RIN! I'M SO SORRY!

"I can't take this anymore!" Sakura roared, surprising me. She got up and stalked away from the couch, still shivering.

"What was that about?" Mayumi whispered, following Sakura with her eyes.

I looked back to the screen. "Come on, Rin-kun, let me be your love. No one can ever love you the way I do, I promise!" Moonbite said huskily, holding his hand to her pussy.

"Get away from me! My only purpose right now is to find Nerine-chan."

"But that won't matter, once I've taken over you and formed all of reality to my vision of it," she giggled. My spine shivered at that laugh. "There is no hope. You might as well give in and fuck me. I've been dying for you to stick your dick in me Rin-kun, for so, SO long now…"

Rin responded by punching her directly in the face, knocking her onto her ass, offscreen.

I love you, Rin.

But…

You really hate me enough that you want me to commit suicide?

Slowly, but surely, I began to give in to my tears yet again. Everything is hopeless now for me.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

As I gauged we were nearing the area that the armor-wearing demon retard had suggested was Nerine's last known destination, I made a motion for us all to slow down.

I'd been noticing, much to my disdain, that I was starting to have much more of a physical attraction to Daisy ever since our body swap. Whenever I saw her, my mind started commanding me to possess her body again, through whatever means necessary. As a result, I was now trying to fight off lustful urges towards Primula, Asa, AND Daisy, now, while also trying to keep my mind focused on Nerine.

"Alright, everyone," I said, "apparently these people are like a Thieves' Guild or something like-OOF!"

"Surprise backhug!" Asa screamed, squeezing me from behind. I blushed, tried not to think of how much I'd love to suck on her breasts, and patted her arm nervously until she let go.

"So, um, I think we should make an attack plan, you know…just in case things go…awry."

"Pssh, I don't see why," Primula said. "You and Daisy-chan seem like you're able to massacre your way out of just about anything." She sounded a little sulky. She was just WAY too adorable.

"Well, you never know," I said. "Plus, I'd feel terrible if anyone did get hurt out of our group."

"Aww, Rin-kun," Asa said, grabbing my elbow and smooshing it against her chest. "You really do care about us."

I sighed and tried not to let Matsuri's constant glaring make me feel too guilty.

"Right, so, obviously me, Rin-kun, and Primu-chan will be on the offensive," Daisy grinned. "And…"

"But what about…" Matsuri began.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, I WASN'T DONE TALKING!" Daisy screeched. "Ahem. I think we should purposefully entice them to violence, if possible. These thugs lotsa times only really understand and respect you through a show of who's the bigger reaper of carnage."

"That's a good point," Primula said, nodding at me seriously.

Tsubomi laughed nervously. "I…don't think that's such a good idea. What if we kill so many of them that we somehow lose a piece of useful information or something?"

"Maybe," I said in agreement. "And Nerine-chan is hopefully still there, but if that's the case, then they'll probably use her as a hostage against us. If that happens, we should try our best to negotiate her back into our safety before doing anything rash."

"I'm glad you're open to pacifism," Asa said, her hand caressing my chest. "But, back to our organization in case the worst happens - I think Tsubomi-chan should heal from the back. Daisy-chan's right – she, herself very useful as a fighter, so she should only resort to healing if something happens to Tsubomi-chan."

"And I won't let anything happen to you at all," Itsuki told his fiancée. They shared a deeply resonant smile.

"But…what can you do to protect her?" I asked. "Do you have any weapons?"

"Hmm…well, I think I could at least take a piss on them!" he shouted, giving me a thumbs up while patting his package with the other hand. I sighed and gave him a begrudging thumbs up back.

"And Asa-sempai, I guess you should just do your best to remain out of harm's way, alright?" I finished.

"Oh, are you worried about me?" she beamed, hugging me again.

Rin-kun. Now is NOT the time to think about procreation.

"Okay. Let's start looking around here, then," Primula said, walking out in front, still shimmering with the contained storm of fluttering snowflakes she had been pulling along with us to keep us cool in the desert.

We followed her up to the top of yet another sand dune and, noticing a spiny black silhouette on the ground below, I shoved Primula down under me and signaled everyone else to collapse as well.

"Are you alright?" I murmured in Primula's ear.

She hummed and moved her incredible ass around against my quite hard crotch in response.

I whimpered and looked up over the dune to see what was going on. There were definitely a bunch of extremely muscular demons, who didn't look very much like thieves. I didn't see anyone that had long, blue hair, though. Perhaps they were keeping her inside the facility?

"Rin-kun, you're…" Matsuri began from my right.

"What?" I whispered.

She pointed at my hands. I looked down and realized I had been caressing Primula's breasts without realizing it, while she was moaning with pleasure.

"Oh my gods, I'm sorry, Primu-chan," I said, much louder than I meant to as I got up off her, trying as hard as I could to forget the feel of her hard nipples against my fingers. A hush of alarm resounded from our group as we looked over the ridge.

They were looking our way.

Shit.

An ear-splitting whistle trilled across the desert from the camp, the mass of silhouettes sprinting towards us.

Disorienting me even more, Primula jumped up and kissed me briefly on the lips. "Love you," she whispered.

I nervously patted her head and walked over to Daisy. "I guess we're going to have that fight you wanted," I muttered. The club-wielding god nodded, her eyes gleaming with a thirst for blood.

Without warning, a barrage of male demons in lithe, maroon armor jumped out from the sand, surrounding us from all sides. Their armor was covered with intimidating silver spines. Our group rearranged in response so that me, Daisy, Matsuri, and Primula, were surrounding Asa, Tsubomi, and Itsuki for their protection.

"You motherfuckers have just trespassed onto the titty-fucking land of the Binral Guild. Or some shit. Explain yourselves, bitches!" a tall demon ordered from behind me.

I heard Daisy and Itsuki burst out laughing. "SHH!" I hissed, though I was smirking. We didn't want to piss these guys off. Their speech…um…disorder, sounded very similar to something, however, though I couldn't figure out what.

"Hey, who the fuck's here or some shit, you know what I'm saying? Fuck me up the ass! hhHHHAAAAHH!" another voice laughed, this time sounding incredibly familiar. I turned my head to see that the remainder of people had arrived from their base.

"B-Bark-kun?" I asked, tilting my head.

"What? Shit! You mean, you fuckers know my little bro?" the second demon who talked to us gasped, his face brightening. "Now, now hold up, I mean, jus' HOLD UP, everyone, these little slutfucks don't mean any harm, or some shit! Alright?"

"Damn straight, Cap'n! hhhhHHHHAAAAHH!" The army of demons said as one, lowering their weapons. Our group relaxed as well.

"So, like, uh…I don't really know how to say this without being really fucking awkward, or some shit, but, uh, my brother got killed by some little pussy human kid - FUCK IT! - you know what I'm saying? It fucking sucks dick or some shit. Did you know that?"

"Uh, no, we didn't," I said, walking to the front of our group to address him. "I'm sorry for your loss." I bowed in respect to him.

"Man, don't even worry about it, bro. Jus-jus-jus don't even worry about it! hhhhHHHHAAAAHH! Our parents done fucked a shit-ton of times, or some shit, you know what I'm saying? hhhhHHHHAAAAHH!" He looked at ease, but the other demons in the group still looked about as bloodthirsty as Daisy. "BITCHING TITTIES! I got all shapes of crazy relatives, or some shit!"

I nodded. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to ask you a question."

"Ask away, bitch, ask away!" he snorted.

"My group and I heard you hired a young prostitute with blue hair recently. She supposedly goes by Ai."

"Well…I think I might…hmm…" the large demon thought. I thought I saw something change in his face when I said the name.

Itsuki spoke up from behind me. "She's got these, like, enormous titties that are just great, and an ass that you just wanna spank every time you see it!"

"Ah, damn straight, fucker! You speakin' my language now, or some shit!" he responded, pointing at Itsuki with a toothy grin. "As a matter of fact, we might have seen this girl…we might not have, though…if you know what I mean."

I quirked my eyebrow as he made a strange vocal signal to his men. Before any of our group could react, a demon burst out from the sand, grabbed Asa, plunged back into the sand, and reappeared among his kin with her in tow. As Asa violently coughed sand from her mouth, the men set to manhandling her in a way that threatened to plunge me deep into my forbidden anger. Matsuri looked outright furious and walked out of formation to approach Asa. I quickly restrained her.

"What's going on, Cap'n?" I asked the leader as he strolled over to Asa, who was being forced to bend over at the hip while keeping her knees straight, her still-clothed ass facing us. She hummed nervously.

"Well, we seem to be at, like, a motherfucking impasse, or something like that. You know what I'm saying, fucker? You see, like, I'm a man who loves the finer things in life, like, you know, tits and ass, or some shit like that, you know what I'm saying? hhhhHHHHAAAAHH!" Now next to Asa, he pulled up her sport shorts so they rode far, far up her ass, exposing the majority of her very attractive cheeks.

Asa groaned, legs shaking, as he ran his fingers up and down her barely-covered genitals, kneading her butt as he went. "R-Rin-kun…help!" she wailed, her voice sounding quite unlike herself.

Matsuri tensed in my arms.

"So…this IS Rin-kun, eh?" the leader demon said, his grin going malicious as he reached up and began groping Asa's breasts. "We got word that he might be coming, or some shit, and that you was gonna ask for this Ai-chan. We're supposed to kill you and all you friends. Hope that's okay with you. Alright, bitch?"

"No, not really…" I said, unsheathing my blade. Matsuri did the same with her katanas and I could see both Daisy and Primula tense up as well.

"Yeah, I didn't think so. But, fuck! You know what? YOU KNOW FUCKING WHAT? I'm, like, an understanding guy, or some shit. So, like, I'm prepared to offer you a deal in exchange for your lives – how about that?" he said, looking around at his men and nodding like he was being pretty reasonable, despite presently molesting an innocent girl.

"I'm listening," I said warily.

"Fuckin' shit man, don't be like that," he said, ripping Asa's shorts in half, so that her incredible-to-behold butt and crotch were exposed to us. It was a psychotically beautiful sight. She whimpered, struggling to free her legs and arms from the demons who restrained her.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" Matsuri seethed. I was very tempted to let her go, but this was going to be a rough battle. We needed to keep our cool and avoid it, if at all possible.

"So, like, I couldn't help but notice that you've got some fine-ass bitches here with ya. I don't wanna waste women that look like they're angels of SEX, ya get me? Ya get me? FUCK IT! So, I propose that, like, you let me and all my clan, here, jus' keep the shit outta all o' yer women, and I'll let you go free." The demons that surrounded us all cheered. "Except for that ugly bitch you're holding right now. You can keep her, she's a straight piece of shit."

"H-HEY!" Matsuri sputtered, now sounding despairing. "Th-that's horrible to say!"

"Well, let's see," the captain said, sticking one finger up Asa's asshole while he stuck another up her vaginal slit. She whimpered and shuddered, and my fury kept building, despite my attempts to suppress it. "So, like, who would like to stick their dick in this bitch?" he asked his group, pointing at Matsuri with his other hand.

After a moment of no one raising their hand, one guy eventually did.

"Yo, Braka-kun! You crazy fuck! You like that whore, or some shit?"

"I reckon I do, man, I…I just like her. I reckon she's a pretty cute girl, or some shit, you know what I'm saying?" Braka responded.

Matsuri relaxed. "Thanks, Braka-san!" she called. He blushed and wiggled around in place in embarrassment.

"Okay then, we'll take her, too, for Braka-kun," the captain relented. "Alright, so, like, how bout it? We'll treat 'em real good, or some shit."

"I think we'll have to decline," I said resolutely.

As the words left my mouth, one demon burst forth from the fray, his frighteningly large, erect penis poking out of his armor. "I can't fucking take it anymore!" he wailed, gunning straight towards Primula. "I want to fuck you, little girl! C'mere, slut!"

Primula folded her arms and smiled coyly at him. "You can look, but you can't touch," she said.

"Fuck that shit, I'm-a touching," he said, thrusting his hand up her miniskirt. As soon as he did, Primula formed a gigantic ice claymore out of her arm and swung upwards, through the demon, making a clean arc of blood and severed organs through the air.

"RAAAAH!" he screamed, his organs dangling out now. "She cut off my dick…SHE CUT OFF MY DICK…"

"Well, I actually obliterated your dick, if you want to be technical about it…"

The other demons all readied their weapons, now looking pissed.

The guy kept screaming, pink foam frothing from his lips. He collapsed to the ground as he tried unsuccessfully to keep his organs from spilling out from his slashed flesh.

"Kill him. Now!" the captain shouted with a frown. "End his misery, or some shit."

"Alright," Primula said, casting a spell that caused a giant, spiny ball to appear exactly where his head was, causing his skull and all its contents to explode across the sand. Everyone watched his decapitated body spasm before pissing and shitting all over itself.

I heard a bloodcurdling scream and whirled around in shock to see Asa being lifted into the air by a sword which was stabbing her up her crotch. She didn't stop screaming, her pitch getting higher as the blade kept ripping deeper through her womb. The pained, nightmarish quality in that scream made me start shaking with rage. I could image the kind of sick, demented pain that she felt, from what Kaede had always done to me. And now, she was feeling it, all because of me.

Like Nerine, this unspeakable thing was happening to her…purely because of me.

A switch went off in my head. I let go of Matsuri. Asa began screaming even more horrifically. My head started buzzing, and I started salivating uncontrollably.

"Listen up, you've got one last chance to leave here alive!" the captain roared over Asa as he lifted her impaled body into the air, her blood pouring down on him. "Do we have an agreement?"

"FUCK NO!" I roared, plunging through the air towards him, my killing instincts from Moonbite kicking in. I slashed at him, but he was too fast, dodging just in time. I was intercepted by several other demons, who I quickly began parrying and slashing as well as I could.

I was relieved to feel Tsubomi's healing spell begin casting immediately, so I allowed myself to leave myself open in order to get hits in on the mob that surrounded me. The pain was brutal every time they slashed or stabbed me, but I was used to it by now, thanks to Kaede's conditioning. Plus, with the knowledge that they wouldn't be permanent wounds, I was able to keep focusing on the attack.

Primula began casting gigantic turbulences, throughout the large arc of encroaching demon warriors, which alternately lifted them off their feet into the sky and electrocuted them to death. She easily had the highest kill count so far.

Matsuri and Daisy were furiously fighting as well, and, though Tsubomi sometimes had to switch her healing spell to them, Daisy generally stopped to heal herself and Matsuri as needed.

I completely lost track of Asa and the captain, much to my self-hatred. I wouldn't forgive myself if he did anything worse to her! But, for all my kills so far with Moonbite's blade, more and more demons kept piling in, impaling me and cutting off extremities with their multibladed weapons. I began to fight more wildly in order to free myself from the mob. My added sloppiness soon had a price, however.

"SHIT!" I screamed as I felt a sword slice right through my right arm, sending it and Moonbite's sword flying through the air.

"I've got it! I've got it, fuckers!" some demons said, jumping up and catching it. Everyone who touched the sword dropped dead, immediately.

"Tsubomi-chan!" I yelled as I ran over to retrieve my sword, with my left hand this time.

"It'll take a while to regrow your arm," she shouted, running over to me, Itsuki following immediately behind her. Demons, spells, blood, and organs continuously flew through the air. "You should hold your old arm up to the wound; that will speed up the process."

"Great, okay," I said, sloppily trying to fight off some demons who kept stabbing their knives through my stomach. I was complete shit with my left arm, but I was still able to graze their skin. Primula cast an explosive fire spell, which churned through some nearby demons, killing many. "Geez, this is crazy!" I said, hissing from the pain as I poked their blades back out from my body.

"I know! Here!" Itsuki said, helpfully holding my arm against my wound.

"Thanks, Itsuki-tan," Tsubomi said, beginning to heal my arm. At that precise moment, two demons came running and grabbed the little god girl, dragging her away from us.

"NO! Tsubomi-tan!" Itsuki roared, taking up some of the weapons that had been embedded in me and running off to save his future wife. I sighed and left my arm on the ground as I followed him.

"DAISY-CHAN, SWITCH TO HEALING MODE!" I yelled at the violet-haired warrior, who was taking obvious pleasure in causing as many blood splashes as possible with her club.

"FINE!" she roared back.

"ITSUKI-TAAAN!" Tsubomi wailed from within a throng of demons. Her clothes had been ripped off entirely, enemy hands were over around every part of her body and hair, and one demon was fucking her violently from behind. "NOOOOO, NOT THERE!"

Itsuki dashed past the few demons guarding the rape session, swinging clumsily as he went. They both slashed him in his abdomen, but he kept going and arrived to where his fiancée was getting raped, where he bellowed and went to work decapitating each of them before they could protect themselves. The guy with his dick inside Tsubomi started running, still fucking her as he went. Itsuki chucked a sword at him, which burst right through the demon's head, plunging him face-first into the ground.

As this went on, I distractedly killed demons around me as I scanned the battlefield for Asa, finally spotting her behind a barrier that mages had pulled up around them and the captain, off to one side of the battlefield. She still looked like she was in great pain.

With still only one arm, I ran up alongside Primula, who was summoning a multitude of elemental spells and blasting them into the barrier in an effort to break it.

"You're doing great, Primu-chan," I said. "I think we're starting to gain control of the battle!"

"Yup," Matsuri said, coming up. Not a single part of her wasn't drenched in thick, chunky blood. She gasped, the blood running into her mouth when she opened it. "Daisy-chan's getting the last few, back there. Hurry, Primu-chan!"

"I'm going with everything I've got!" Primula snapped, raising a dragon of black tar from the earth and sending it churning into the barrier. She followed up with a white-hot laser of flame, then an array of shurikens, and lastly a torrent of ice daggers from the sky, which finally broke the barrier. The group of mages collapsed to the ground from the apparent mental shock of getting their spell nullified.

Within seconds, Matsuri and I were over there, beginning to cleave through the last group of soldiers.

"Stop right there, or some shit!" the captain shouted from below. The two of us paused to look at what was going on.

Asa was on the ground, covered in her own vomit, tears and blood. The man had taken out one of her eyes, and it looked, horrifically, like the socket was gushing with semen. Another demon was viciously mutilating her with blood-drenched knives – one in her crotch and one in her anus, plunging them in and out repeatedly. She was no longer screaming, just eliciting a mindless, broken groan that never ceased.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" Primula screamed, running up to us. Matsuri and I were too angry to speak coherently.

"I will kill her, if you come any closer, alright, bitches?" the man said, grinning wickedly. He had a knife sticking through the underside of her jaw. "I'll push it all the way through her brain. You know I will, you fucking little bitches. You just know I fucking will!"

"R-R-Rin-kuun…" Asa gurgled weakly. "Help…" she begged.

"Shut up, cunt!" he sneered, smacking her in the face so hard that some of the semen flew out of her eye.

I made eye contact with Primula, nodding with the hopes that she would understand what I was going to do. "So, Cap'n. Who do you think's the sexiest girl I've got with me in this group? Or…or some shit?" I grinned.

His face brightened. "Well, I've been thinking about that, you know. I've always liked fucking children or some shit, and, like, both the little purple-haired chick and the blonde one are, you know, REALLY damn fuckable, or some shit. On the other hand…"

I signaled Primula with my eyes. She fired off an instantaneous bolt of lightning that blasted through the captain, sending him flying off Asa with a scream. At the same time, Matsuri used the momentary distraction to cut off the heads of each of the demons who were on the ground with Asa.

Meanwhile, I sprinted across the sand until I reached the captain. "Okay, you fucking little bitch," I seethed. "Let's try this again!" My foot pressing into the sensitive wound through his chest, which he must have received from Primula's lightning bolt, I held Moonbite's blade over his head. "Where…the FUCK…is Ai-san? And if you don't answer, I'll make you VERY…" I dug my foot into his exposed lungs. "…uncomfortable."

"I…I don't know…" he whined.

Daisy came up to us, also completely soaked with organs and blood. She seemed to be really enjoying herself. "Would you like me to help?" she offered hungrily.

"By all means," I beamed. I took my foot out of his chest and she quickly replaced it with her club, which she churned through his exposed organs, eliciting an incredible scream from him.

"Wh-why are you doing this, or some shit?" he whimpered. "A-a-all we wanted was revenge for our brother…GYYAAAAAAAHHHH!"

I broke out laughing hysterically. "WHAhaHAhaHAhaHA, you fucking little piece of SHIT! You did a really fucking good job avenging your faggot brother, too, didn't you? Because of your INCREDIBLE intelligence, you've lost almost your entire family! ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! Remember, YOU killed them! If you hadn't taken Asa-sempai and tortured the fuck out of her like the deranged, inbred FUCK that you are, your whole fucking family would still be alive!" Still giggling, and completely letting Moonbite's impulses drive me, I unzipped my pants and starting pissing in his face.

"Rin-kun, Rin-kun, can I stomp on his testicles?" Daisy said eagerly.

"Oh, by all means, partner!" I laughed.

"NO! NO!" he screamed as Daisy pulled off his loincloth. "STOP! I'LL TALK!"

"You don't need two!" I cackled, slobber pouring from my mouth as I finished draining my fluids on his face. Primula caught up with us at this point, and watched with great interest.

Squealing with excitement, Daisy took half of his scrotum in her hand and ripped it off. He screamed much higher than Asa ever did today, tears coming out of his face.

"I said I'd talk…" he sobbed, body shaking with pain and sorrow. "I told – I told you, I'd talk…why did you…"

I kicked him three times, hard, in the face, then leaned over so that my face was hanging right over him. "Then…where is she, midget dick?" I screamed at him.

"Um, um…" he blinked rapidly. "She said her next client was…in a city…A.B.A….yeah, that's the one…yes…GGRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!" he screamed in agony as Daisy sunk a knife into his opened scrotum sac.

"You deserve every bit of this," I said, chuckling maniacally. "YOU LITTLE BITCH! Now…where THE FUCK is she in this A.B.A. city? TALK!"

"Um…she told me…let me think, um…she said she had some clients in…" He blinked, trying both to remember and to stop sobbing. "Gigalith Apartment…Suite…um…17. The…the room number was…um…" he looked like was actively wracking his brain.

"WELL? WHAT IS IT? You FAT SACK of FUCK!" I slobbered, leaning down and biting down viciously on his nose. The tip came off in my mouth, and tasted terrible, so I spat it out in the sand.

He whimpered. "Room number 22."

"ARE YOU SURE?" I laughed hoarsely in front of his piss-covered face.

"Yes…yes, I am."

"Did…did you get all that, Primu-chan?" I asked her, as she had been listening much more closely than I had.

"Yes…A.B.A., Gigalith Apartments, Suite 17, Room 22. Are…you alright?" she asked me.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I said, getting up and stomping on his teeth a few times, intent on knocking them all out of his gums.

"Rin-kun, please stop…the disease! Remember, you have to control yourself!" Primula told me soothingly.

DAMMIT! I'd gotten carried away again. I took Primula's advice and backed away, trying to retrieve my own personality. "You're right, Primu-chan," I said irritably. My body wouldn't stop shaking. I looked at my arms and saw that they were rife with moss again.

"Here, I'll help you," she murmured, gently guiding my penis back into my underwear and zipping up my pants. It grew hard nearly instantaneously from her touch, which she definitely noticed, judging from her delighted reaction.

"Can I smack him once more, Rin-kun?" Daisy asked me hungrily.

"Of course," I said, grinning.

As the captain screamed in fright, Daisy lifted her club mightily into the air and crashed it down on the whole in his chest. Blood erupted from his mouth and, oddly, his open scrotum, from the impact.

The three of us left him there by himself, crying and shivering from his pain. We rejoined the others to find that everyone was in good shape, besides Asa, of course.

"Are they all either dead or unconscious?" I asked no one in particular, scanning the grisly carnage our self-defense had exacted.

"Yeah. I did a once over," Matsuri said quietly, who was caressing Asa and holding her body close, despite herself still being drenched in blood. Asa seemed to be in a state of shock. Thick blood poured out from where her ass and crotch used to be.

"Me and Tsubomi-tan counted 208 deaths," Itsuki said gravely, his hands massaging his fiancee's bare shoulders as she worked on curing Asa as best as she could. Tsubomi had her underwear back on, but her clothes were too ripped up to be useful.

"Daisy-chan, could you help, too, please?" I asked.

Despite a brief flash of annoyance, she muttered, "Okay, Rin-kun." She knelt down and began healing Asa as well.

"Are you alright, Sempai?" I asked her, walking around and stooping to caress her vomit-soaked hair.

"I-I'm okay…"she said, staring ahead. "I'm sorry I'm so useless…I'm holding you back from finding Nerine-chan…"

"No, no, don't think for a moment that any of us are frustrated with you," I said with concern. "You're just as important as Nerine-chan is."

"I…I'm not a virgin anymore…am I?" Asa asked emptily.

"I-It doesn't matter, Asa-sempai," I said, caressing her neck and cheek. "It'll be okay…did they actually…um…uh…have SEX with you, or only torture you?"

"I…I guess they just tortured me…" she said, her face contorting in pain. "Did it…did it get to my brain? I need to wash out my eye…did it get to my brain?"

"I don't know, Asa-sempai," I murmured.

"I'm violated…everything I've kept, just for you is, is…ruined…now…"

Primula, Itsuki, and Matsuri all looked around awkwardly.

"No, no, no, you'll be fine…they'll cure you up perfectly, you'll see," I smiled. "I promise. Sia-chan used to cure my crotch all the time whenever Kaede-chan mutilated it, and they did the same for Primu-chan, too."

"Ah…I…I see. I didn't know…she did that…I'm so sorry. I should've supported you more…"

"Don't worry, Asa-sempai. Just take it easy. We won't go anywhere until you're better."

"Th-thanks, Rin-kun."

Sitting back and letting the two gods do their work, I decided not to bring up my missing arm, since that was of less importance at the moment.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Although the massive amount of bloodshed incurred on my ex-boyfriend's family was entertaining to watch (as well as Forbesii's look of vindicated pride and Mayumi's of outright horror), my head was in another place. What Moonbite baited Rin into saying earlier had deeply scarred me. The feeling of the loss of his love punched me in my soul, over and over, crushing what was left of my ability to be happy.

What was the point, now? What can I do to survive? Why am I even watching this, if he wants me to die?

Realizing that I now had no stake in whether Rin was safe, since he had no care for me, I excused myself and walked up the stairs, not knowing where I was headed.

As I leadenly stomped my way up, my nose caught the sharp, metallic tang of blood…and of rotting flesh. I became alert, but in an almost drugged, hypnotized way, as I continued ascending to the extreme dark of the upper levels of my apartment.

"S-Sakura-chan?" My lips asked, my head pounding. Now that I realized she shared hallucinations with me, it all made sense…I remembered she was the third kid that Moonbite had experimented on in my repressed memories that I sometimes caught horrific glimpses of.

I also felt slightly more connected with her, now, and I realized that, no matter what Moonbite told me, she, Rin, and I SHOULD be on the same team. Against her.

Yes…against that CREATURE! It's not Rin that hates me, it's Moonbite that's making him hate me! She's the cause of all my problems.

I'll kill her. I'll fuck her. I'll make her suffer. I'm not sure how, but…

…killing Moonbite…that's my goal now. My reason to live. Even if Rin still hates me after she dies, then I'll have still had my fucking revenge, right?

Sakura…I hate her, and she's ugly, trashy, and pathetic…but she should be with me when we have our revenge against Moonbite! She's also a victim. She's been through what I've been through! She will help me, I'm sure of it.

"Sakura-chan," I whispered, my body heaving in fear of the darkness at the top of the stairs. "Please don't be dead."

I traced the edges of the stairs up to the guest room – the same place where Rin's voice was summoning me the other day – and once again found myself in deep darkness, my hand on the loose doorknob.

The smell was very powerful now. There was definitely spilt blood close by.

I hesitated and gasped out "Sakura-chan," once more swinging the door open.

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

Following an extensive, multiple-hour-long healing (and bathing) session, our entire group finally made it back to full health, although my new arm was pretty numb still. Her eye and genitals now repaired, Asa treated us all to a quick meal, and we took off across the desert again towards a portal that Itsuki located on the map. It would supposedly teleport us to the artificial island city, A.B.A. He and Tsubomi were even more inseparable than usual, ever since he saved her in the battle. More often than not, their tongues would be intertwined, which eventually became pretty irritating to the rest of us single people.

Determined to be as helpful as possible, Asa took the hormone-struck Itsuki's place as our navigator, doing her best to lead the way. Matsuri remained a constant presence of support for Asa, but I could tell my sempai was slowly getting fed up with the girl's constant attention.

Primula, meanwhile, kept trying to take my hand, but I continued to refuse to hold it, which hurt both of us. But I was Nerine's and Nerine's only, for the moment. I had to honor her memory and be her pure destiny, by the time I proposed to her. As pure as I could be, that is. Moonbite and powerful sexual urges towards Asa, Primula, and Daisy kept throttling my mind with every step. It was all I could do to cling onto Nerine's beautiful face. What she looked like was slowly getting more unclear in my memory…but I had to save her!

No one exploded, though, and we had a relatively stoic, silent journey to the portal. Itsuki entered the codes (I have no idea how he knew them) and led us bravely through the swirling orange mist into what would hopefully be A.B.A.

Following the disorienting, trippy sensation of warping through space, we arrived somewhere that certainly wasn't the desert, at least. The pungent smell of trash, unclean streets, and spilt blood hit my nose as I skidded out of the portal onto a stone floor.

"Woohoo, that was awesome!" Tsubomi sang as she popped out of the portal, still dressed in just her underwear. "Can we do it again?"

"Not now, my gorgeous, incredible WOMAN," Itsuki said, stooping down and making out with her aggressively.

"I love you so fucking much, my genius, loyal, brave Itsuki-tan," she gasped in lust as he pulled away. "Oh GODS, come here!" She forced his mouth back into hers.

The others came through behind us. "Is this it?" Matsuri said, looking around warily with one hand on her sheathed katana.

Itsuki parted lips with Tsubomi and said, "Yes, this is A.B.A., the Soul City. The demons crafted this floating island out of magically treated tombs and crypts. The souls of many ancient demons roam freely here, making this both a common tourist site and a pilgrimage destination for demons who seek to reconnect with their heritage and history."

"HA! No one cares about your gay little history lessons!" Daisy sneered, just before a pink puff of energy drifted past her face. "GAH! What the fuck is THAT?" she screamed. I took her moment of distractedness to check out her rather beautiful breasts.

"Oh, it's a soul." Itsuki said. "One quite high in the Doki pylon, judging from its coloration."

"Please…don't say words like 'coloration,' you know-it-all, when 'color' works just fine," Asa groaned. She was clearly trying to put on a show of normalcy, but she was much more anxious, quiet, and generally disturbed since her abduction and torture. Her hands often flew down to her crotch, for a feeling of security, I suppose. We had makeshifted her sport shorts into a clumsy skirt. Our entire group definitely needed to go shopping sometime, as we were all wearing barely-hanging-together outfits. But not now. With any luck, we were catching up with Nerine!

"So…I guess we should start looking for that, um…Gigalith Apartments place, right?" I said. "Do you have any idea where to look, Itsuki-kun?"

He chuckled, leaning over the rail. It seemed we were pretty high up, on a balcony of some sort. "This is great! I can see everyone's titties from here!" he laughed in jubilation as he looked down at the lower levels.

"Ooh, let me see!" Primula sang, skipping over to look over, next to Itsuki. Daisy and Matsuri joined them with interest.

Asa, Tsubomi, and I shrugged to each other.

"Oh that's great! You really can see some great boobies from here! Come here, Rin-kun!" Primula gasped, signaling me over.

"Th-that's alright," I said, my eyes scanning the cityscape. All the buildings looked quite ancient, and many were towering far into the sky. The city looked surreal and alien.

My eyes happened to rest on neon lettering on the side of one of the skyscrapers. "HEY!" I shouted. "I found it!" I pointed across the city to the building. "Look, there it is! Gigalith!"

"Hey, nice find," Matsuri said, but let out a cry of surprise when Asa bounced up from behind and threw her arms tightly around her.

"SURPRISE BACKHUG!" my sempai screamed, squeezing Matsuri's breasts…I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. Everyone but me and Daisy laughed at Matsuri's dark red, stunned face.

"S-s-s-s-sempai!" Matsuri gasped, her body spasming and contorting unnaturally.

Asa pulled away and winked at me, leaving Matsuri panting and with one hand up her own dress. "So! Are we gonna head there now, then?"

"Sure," I grinned. "Does…anyone know how to get from one building from another?"

"How do you think, Dumbshit?" Daisy sneered from next to me. She pointed at the staircase directly behind us.

"W-well…" I said, looking at the several thousand puff balls floating around in the sky. "I was just thinking, we teleported here, after all…"

"I-I think it's just stairs, Rin-kun," Primula said, patting my butt for some reason. "Shall we go find your blushing, busty, blue-haired bride…"

"NICE alliteration!" Itsuki beamed at her.

"Thanks, Itsuki-kun! …before she fucks yet more total creeps?" Primula finished.

"Could you please say that in a way that's less depressing?" I asked, shivering. I'd been trying my hardest not to think of the fact that Nerine may have actually had sex with Bark's sick relatives…I wouldn't want to see what they did to Asa repeated with anyone else, especially her.

"Alright, well…let's make our way down there, I guess," Matsuri said.

While everyone started for the stairs, I paused and looked back at Primula. "Um…could you please let go of my butt, Primu-chan?"

"Oh, but it's so nice," she said, blushing and swaying in place. "I lllllike your butt, Rin-kun."

"W-well, thanks…"

"Just…just let me hold it for a little while longer," she murmured, squeezing my cheek, which made me tense up. I patiently waited for her to finish, masterfully suppressing my urge to grab her breasts in return. "Okay, I got my fill for now," she grinned, licking her fingers suggestively.

I laughed nervously. "And on THAT note…let's go get Nerine-chan!" I pulled her along to follow the others while she stuffed her fingers all in her mouth at once.

* * *

(_Kaede's Point of View_)

Wielding what little bravery and sanity I had left, I swung the door open to the guest room, revealing…

Corpses.

Everywhere.

Rin corpses.

Multiple copies of his body were smeared and disembowled all over the room. I walked in, my breath caught in horror. What was this?

"Kaede-chan!" Sakura panted, standing naked in the middle of the room, her skin white and pure. Somehow, not a drop of blood had made it on her. Tears were running down her cheeks. "What IS this?" she sounded horrified to the point of insanity.

Flies buzzed around the several decomposing bodies of my love. I noticed that all of them had familiar objects impaling them…like a drill, an eggbeater, a yanagiba…

"Do you…HMMMMMM…RECOGNIZE these, my little FUCKING Kaede-chan?" Moonbite's voice giggled from directly behind me.

I gasped and fell forward onto a heap of rotten Rin organs. My face splattered directly in a pile of intestines and severed penises. I hurriedly pushed myself up, moaning despite myself.

Moonbite, back in her disturbing Cyclops form, went into an awful, hee-hawing laugh, coming in and closing the door behind her. "You're not going anywhere ever again, you fucking little bitch!"

"I'm…I'm going to kill you," I said, picking up a power drill from a Rin corpse and revving it. "For what y-y…"

Moonbite broke out laughing hysterically. The sound was hideous. "What I'VE done? What do you mean, what I'VE done? Kaede-chan…my dainty little ass-whore…HMMMM…the reason every fucking one of these corpses should look familiar, my dear…is that they are all YOUR…HEEEHEEHEEE…handiwork."

Sakura and I looked at each other in confusion.

"From other versions of this reality. You see, I don't know if my little Rin-kun told you, but I have been reliving his life over and over again…for over a million years, you see," she groaned, walking steadily towards us with her hulking, decayed body. "Every one of these corpses…is your work. Not mine! I had nothing to do with it! You're mentally ill, you know. Killing the one you love? HAHAHAHA! Isn't it hilarious, Sakura-chan?"

"I…I…you're lying," I gasped, my eyes watering. "There's no way I could ever kill Rin-kun…I'm a good person!"

Moonbite let out her donkey laugh again. "You are a wicked, evil person Kaede-chan. Isn't she, Sakura-chan?"

"I…" Sakura looked at me. "I think she's violent, mean, crazy, and cruel…but she's not evil…she's my friend…right?"

I broke out into a smile, feeling really good about Sakura being here all of a sudden. It wasn't me alone against Moonbite anymore!

"Sakura-chan!" I gasped with tears in my eyes.

"OH? She's your FRIEND, HUH? Let's play a little…HMMMMMM…game, to test that out, shall we?"

"Let's not!" I growled, running towards the abomination with the power drill turned on.

Moonbite effortlessly gestured and sent me careening through a pile of Rin corpses again, the drill flying out of my hands. When I had pulled myself, blood-covered, out from his remains, I gasped when I saw that one of the corpses was holding Sakura against himself from behind.

"Kaede-chan, help!"

"No, you like it," the dead Rin said. Both of his eyes were missing, and his heart looked like it had been ripped out, but overall, he looked more whole than the others.

"S-s-stop, you're not real!" Sakura gasped. "GRAH!" she squeezed her thighs together when he abruptly rammed his dick up her butt.

"Did that feel real to you?" Rin said, smiling tenderly to her as he ran his palms caressingly, sensually all over her naked body.

"Don't…please! Don't watch, Kaede-chan…" Sakura panted as the Rin began fingering her and kneading her breasts.

"No, DO watch, Kaede-chan!" Moonbite cackled hoarsely. "She wants to keep him all to herself! She knows that this is the only time Rin-kun will ever fuck her, and she wants to enjoy it! HAHAHAHA! Shouldn't it be YOU that's enjoying it?"

"I…you're right…" I glared at Sakura. Moonbite was definitely right. She was just pretending to not like it, but I could see the hidden joy in her face. I began to cry. Rin's love was joy that I could never have!

"GHH!" Sakura said, drooling, as her body contorted in a vivid orgasm. Cream dribbled from her crotch. "NO!"

"YES! I've always wanted to fuck you, Sakura-chan, ever since I first met you!" the eyeless Rin told her. "I've never stopped desiring you. I like you better than ALL the other girls, especially Kaede-chan!"

I panted, despairing. Moonbite was watching me. I knew she was trying to manipulate me. I had to fight…

Wait!

What do I care if Sakura lives or dies?

She's useless!

If I kill her…I can have Rin-kun all to myself!

Smiling broadly in my revelation, I walked over to pick up my yanagiba.

"GOOOD, Kaede-chan…make her suffer for taking what's yours! She is nothing to you! Just a weak, slutty friend!" Moonbite chuckled in my ear.

"Yes…yes…" I whispered, approaching Sakura without blinking.

The Rin corpse had bent Sakura over now and was fucking her so hard that her ugly breasts were flapping about offensively. They'd be the second to go, after her begging fucking eyes.

"Kaede-chan…you're my friend…and I care about you…" Sakura said.

I hesitated, my blade pulled back to gouge her. My heart seemed to stop beating as her words clicked in my mind.

"DO IT!" Moonbite screamed, deafeningly, in my mind.

I growled and, keeping my eyes locked with Sakura's, for strength…cut off the head of the Rin that was fucking her. Sakura screamed and ran away.

I was momentarily pleased with myself when I felt talons sink into the skin on my back and throw me to the bed, which was covered with more Rin body parts.

"What's wrong with you!" Moonbite screamed hysterically, stomping over to me, her infested, swollen dick unsheathed and erect.

I tried to get up, but Rin's organs were too slippery! I immediately splattered back down into him.

"HELP! HELP!" Sakura began beating on the door for help.

Moonbite's fist collided with my face. I could feel my skull fracture. Before I had time to recover, she landed several other punches all over my body, concentrating mostly on my jaw and breasts. It hurt much worse than usual…I began pissing uncontrollably from the pain.

"HELP! FORBESII-SAMA!" Sakura continued.

"Shut up, SLUT!" Moonbite fired a bolt of pure black energy at Sakura, but she gasped and ducked in time.

I took the opportunity to kick Moonbite in the balls, but she just smiled and said, "I like it when they struggle," before lifting both my legs up and forcing her cock into my still-urinating crotch.

"GAAAAAHHH! AAAGGGGH!" I cried. I was being raped, again, and this time I was covered in blood! I could feel every pus glob and zit on her dick as she fucked me.

"MMMM! YEAHHH! MMMMM! THAT'S FUCKING RIGHT, SLUT!" Moonbite huffed, as the pain and torture my crotch was feeling coursed throughout the rest of my body. I am filth. I am trash.

"Let me go, I swear I'll kill myself!" I gasped as her dick kept fucking me.

"No, you won't, Whore!" Moonbite groaned, grabbing onto of my right ear and ripping it completely off.

"KAAAAAAH!" I screamed from the new pain.

"You like that? You like that, you little FUCK?" Moonbite crowed as she began fingering the hole my ear left behind.

"NOOO, NOOO, FUUUUUUUCK!" I screeched, feeling my eardrum explode and flog me with even more pain than I felt from her dick.

"Yeahhhh!" Moonbite finally ejaculated, pumping what felt like gallons of semen into my womb, as she continued pinching the inside of my head with her talons.

A gigantic blast arrived at the door, and the whole wall broke down. Forbesii had made it.

"What's going on?" he said, running in and looking around.

Moonbite cursed and disappeared, spraying the last of her skeet on my face. I felt all the corpses disappear, too. The room was normal again.

"Help! Please, I need help!" I sobbed, my body shaking. "Take me to the hospital, or get Kareha-sempai!"

"Oh my gods!" Mayumi gasped when she came up and saw me.

"GO AND GET HER NOW!" I roared in pain. This…is different…normally, things go back to normal after Moonbite abuses me.

But my ear is still destroyed…and…

I fearfully stuck my fingers in my vagina.

I gasped in horror, looking at the slime that coated it when I pulled it out.

Madam Moonbite's dark blue semen. It was in me…in my womb...

* * *

(_Rin's Point of View_)

A couple hours later, my team and I found ourselves in a weird predicament – we'd searched all throughout Gigalith, from top to bottom, in every suite on record…but we simply could not find Suite 17. Granted, the circular floor plan of the complex was needlessly elaborate and unintuitive, but even the demons working the front desk couldn't locate the mysterious suite.

So, stumped, our group of seven found ourselves enjoying an ice-cream substance (that the saleswoman assured me over and over was NOT brains, which only served to make me suspect otherwise) under a banister on the dirty, ancient streets. The city was very cool to look at; it had all kinds of atmosphere. Everything was dark and muggy, yet glowing and illuminated from all the souls. The souls would line the ground and buildings in gorgeous neon strips from time to time, seemingly to entertain the citizens. I would have really liked to spend time here, were I not desperately looking for my possibly prostitute friend.

"It's so WEIRD. It's like it doesn't even exist," I said, slurping my not-brains.

"Tsubomi-tan…" Itsuki breathed huskily.

"MMMMMMMM," Tsubomi gasped.

"Do you remember…back in Phantom Fair…how you were drenched from head to toe? You were SOAKING wet…" he continued.

"GAH, yes, YES, Itsuki-tan…mmh! You're making me soaking wet right now!"

Everyone else crinkled their nose and scooted away from the couple. I could smell Tsubomi very well, against my will.

"Rin-kun…" Matsuri said, her eyes keenly fixed on a fruit stand in front of an old warehouse.

"What is it, Ruri-chan?"

"Watch that demon, there, the one that's talking to the fruit stand vendor."

I did. I could barely detect him saying he'd like to buy a bucketful of kitty candy (which was odd, for a guy dressed in such a high-quality gold suit), before the shopkeeper stood aside to let him enter the warehouse, disappearing when he turned the corner.

"That IS weird…I wonder why someone who looks like that is going in that shitty old warehouse," Daisy said.

"I'm not sure what it is, but…there's definitely something going on there," Ruri said. "Several other fancy-looking people have also said they'd like to buy a bucketful of kitty candy before being let in."

"Could it be the legendary Suite 17?" Asa mused, licking blue not-brains from her lips.

"M-maybe," Ruri said, blushing and twisting around.

"I think it's worth checking out," I said, standing. "The only problem is, we're not exactly dressed for the part. Hopefully, if we're confident enough, he'll let us in, right?"

"Yeah, I bet so," Primula said with a nod.

"Are…you finished, Captain Pedo?" Daisy asked Itsuki, leaning over in a way that illustrated just how well endowed she really was.

"Heh, yup!" he said, separating himself from Tsubomi with a large boner. I groaned and hid my eyes.

After we waited for them to calm down, I led the way over to the fruit stand.

The greasy-looking demon grinned at us, despite our tattered clothes. "Well, hey! How's it going, folks? Could I interest you in some waterballs? Or, perhaps some ginlops?"

"Well, those all look very appetizing," I said, "But I'd only be willing to buy a bucketful of kitty candy."

He raised his eyebrows and looked us over. He looked like he was a bit suspicious of us, but he shrugged and stood aside, muttering, "Kids."

"Thank you," I said, bowing my head in gratitude. I then lead the group on in.

The place was run-down and probably infested with lots of vermin by the look of it. Around a couple turns, though, my heart leapt when I saw a extremely luxurious-looking apartment hallway that was similar in style to the rest of the Gigalith Complex.

"Wow…I think this is it, guys!" I grinned as I walked in. I patted Matsuri on her back appreciatively. "Nice job, Ruri-chan!"

"Not a problem, boss!"

All of us looked much more eager now, even Daisy, as we roamed the halls, working our way through till we found Room 22.

Once we stopped in front of it, my surge of excitement was interrupted when I noticed an alarming stench emanating from the room. It was beyond rancid, beyond fecal…it was the most intensely filthy stench I'd ever experienced. The others all looked quite disturbed by it, except Primula, who seemed fine.

"Something's wrong in there," Asa whispered, holding her nose. "I hope she's okay."

"Yeah," I said. "I…guess I'll knock. If you all feel up to it, you can come on in, I suppose." I grimaced and knocked on the door, but it slid open from the first impact. Apparently they didn't think to lock itOH MY GOD! Shit of all shapes and consistency was splattered all over the carpet and walls. It smelled like pure death in there, now that the door was open.

I clenched my fists and teeth, thinking about Nerine before I waded into the muck with Primula at my side. "Hello? Nerine?" I tried, calling in a voice much louder than necessary.

"Wha? Fuck…is someone there?" a drug-addled voice issued from the bed right around the corner.

I glared at the demon, who was taking a shit on the stomach of a gagged, handcuffed girl on his bed. To the side, a guy was urinating down a tube that was fastened to another girl's mouth. Both women were spasming and whimpering violently.

"What the FUCK is going on here?" I demanded, my dangerous nature rising. Primula began stroking my arm, probably to keep me sane.

"We're just…BLEARG!" the shitting demon said, vomiting all over his victim's crotch. "Just having a good time here, no worries, man!"

"Is EVERYONE in this Realm a fucking sick pervert or something?" I roared, looking around. There were a handful of corpses on the floor, but none of them were Nerine, thankfully. "Is there a demon girl by the name of Ai here? She looks just like Princess Nerine!"

"Fuck, man…AHHHHH! I dunno…check the bathroom. You might look in the closet, too, there's some more bodies there. FUCK, I need another shot of Roth! Man, can you hook a brotha up?"

"Shut up, you stupid FUCK!" I screamed, punching the shitting guy in the face. "People like you don't deserve to have ever been born!" I was seething. Shaking. All these poor women. How could these guys do this? And was Nerine really here?

NERINE!

I spasmed over to the bathroom, wedging through my friends. There were two women with steel pikes impaled through their arms and legs, securing them against the wall. There wasn't a single part of their nude bodies that wasn't covered in dripping green shit, runny yellow shit, splats of bloody shit, or generally smeared with normal brown shit.

The room was covered with cockroaches, a few other corpses, and several torture tools that seemed to be based mostly around scatological functions (obviously). I silently thanked myself that Kaede was never much this into the shitting method.

I couldn't hold it anymore – I leaned over and puked all over the place.

"H-hello?" one girl said, looking at me fearfully. She spat some poop out of her mouth. "Are you here to help me?"

I nodded, hearing the cries of outrage and disgust that the rest of my group made upon seeing the rest of the apartment. I waded through the squishing muck and ripped the steel pikes out of both girls. The other one had a poop hose still attached to her mouth, so I unscrewed the bolts that kept it on her face.

"Are you two okay? You definitely need medical attention," I said, looking at them with concern.

"We're alright," the one who talked first said, while the other gagged and began vomiting poop.

"Let's get you out of here," I said. "I don't have anything for you to wear, but we can always kill the guys out there and you can wear their clothes!"

They looked up, eyes eager.

Matsuri and Itsuki gladly handed the two demon prostitutes their weapons. Our group watched while they approached their Roth addicted captors and proceeded to slice them to death, starting from the crotch, of course.

"By the way," I said as they worked, amidst the guys' screams. Daisy, Primula, and I were helping to hold down the guys while the girls got a free shot at them. The others had left the room, unable to stomach any more. "I was wondering – was there a girl here with you named Ai? She has a great figure and long blue hair."

"Oh, yeah, she was," the more talkative girl said as she stabbed Itsuki's blade down the guy's mouth and through his throat. "She must have left this morning. She was in the bathroom with us, hung on the wall between me and Irike-chan there."

Irike nodded, rapidly stabbing her victim all over his body. "Hi! Thanks for this opportunity, Demon-san!"

"N-no problem," I said, still feeling excessively nauseous. "So…she underwent the same treatment you did?" I asked softly.

"Yeah…"

I snapped, roaring animalistically and breaking the legs of the guy I was holding down, cracking them off at the femur and ripping out any tendons and muscle I could get my hands on. His screaming was heavenly!

After both Daisy and Primula touched me so I'd calm down (Daisy doing so was the only reason it worked, I was so surprised by her compassion), I apologized to the girls.

"Is…she your girlfriend?" the nearer girl asked. "Ai-chan, I mean."

I nodded after a moment, staring blankly at the soon-to-be-dead man. "Yes…I've been tracking her all over the Realm."

"Ohh, I'm so sorry! I would have tried to protect her more, if I knew she had someone…" the girl looked at me with pity as she popped his eyeball with her fingernails. He screamed with yet more sweet, sweet terror.

"D-don't worry about it, there's nothing you could've done," I said hurriedly. "But, uh…do you have any idea where she went?"

"Um…she has a client in, um, the Wreg continent, in Firovale City," she said, looking at me nervously. "It's in a couple days, though, so she's probably off healing right now."

"Okay…alright…do you have any idea where her client is?" I asked desperately. This could be our chance to finally catch up with her!

"It's in a mansion. The Hyrog House, the biggest residence in the entire city. It shouldn't be too hard to find," Irike said, smiling at me. "I hope you can sweep her away to happier times before it's too late, like you did for us!" She continued sawing her prey's skull vertically in half.

"Awesome, THANK you, both of you…so much!" I said, bowing in appreciation. Despite the absolute horror, and the near inability of my mind to comprehend that all this even COULD have happened to poor Nerine, I felt newly optimistic. In two days…we'd be waiting for her!

We said our farewells, took our weapons back, and waded our way out through the room of death.

"You guys alright?" I asked my friends, panting heavily. Most of them had puke at their feet.

"Okay, WHAT…the FUCK…was that?" Asa screamed. "What is wrong with PEOPLE in this Realm?"

"I dunno," I sighed. "But, come on – let's get out of here. We know where she'll be in two days!" I was so happy, I felt like saying it over and over again.

"Thank the GODS," Daisy said, sliding down the wall with exhaustion. "I'm sick of this shit."

"We all are. I really appreciate you coming, all of you," I said, smiling to everyone. "You probably didn't know what you were signing up for, exactly, but there's no way I could've gotten this far without all of you."

"Not a problem, man!" Itsuki said, smiling at me. Tsubomi was crying, huddled against his chest.

"Come on, we have a train to catch to Wreg," Primula said, motioning for us to get out of there. "We definitely need to wash ourselves off, too."

"Ain't THAT the truth," Matsuri groaned.

We walked back out the same way we came, with the girls complaining in horror and disgust about what just happened incessantly.

As soon as we walked back out into daylight, however, we realized someone had laid an ambush for us.

"Halt! Surrender yourselves to us, immediately!" a demon said from a tank. Spotlights blinded us.

"Should we fight?" Daisy said eagerly.

"No, no!" Itsuki said sharply. "A.B.A.'s law enforcement is made up of Arch Mages. Even Primula can't hold a candle to more than one of them."

"Drop you weapons, and put your hands in the air!" the same demon said. It definitely seemed like we were surrounded on all sides, and I trusted Itsuki's knowledge, so I dropped my weapons and raised my arms, giving myself up to them with the rest of my team.

"We surrender," I said wearily.

…damn it.

* * *

"We in this court do recognize the demon Rin and his fellow travelers to be on trial in this Most High Court of Law. Do we uphold this?" the judge said excruciatingly slowly, her eyes peering around to the various winged demon guards, whose casting hands were all pointing at me. Itsuki told us all that they were the Arch Mages he had spoken of, the most powerful warriors in the entire Demon Realm. We wouldn't have a chance to fight our way out or escape while they were watching us, ready to execute us at a moment's notice.

This marble, multilayered room lay deep within the city's political headquarters. There were many pillars around the perimeter, and distractingly detailed stained-glass windows refracted their light across the black-and-white tile floor.

"Indeed, your Honor," the prosecutor said, who seemed to speak for everyone…which is never a good sign.

"Then this court is now in session," the judge intoned with a knock of her gavel.

"I'm sorry, what are we on trial for?" I blurted out, even as Itsuki and Asa hushed me. Our group of seven was seated behind the defendant's bench.

"The accused will not speak unless first addressed by a member of the court," the judge's beady eyes flashed from behind her mask, which Itsuki had explained to me was an honorary accessory given to a high ranking judge. "In any case, the accused is on trial for treasonous sedition, trespassing, moral indecency, and general mayhem. While our court offers substitute defense attorneys, no citizens in our city would accept the task of representing you."

"That's convenient," Daisy muttered, glaring at everyone in the room with contempt.

"Therefore, you may either opt to elect one from within your group to speak for your case, or you may accept your sentence. Which is your preference?"

"What is the penalty for these charges?" Itsuki asked, standing up.

"You will each be force-fed your own genitals after they have been mutilated through the use of a serrated razor blade. Afterwards, you will have your intestines pulled forcibly from your anus, then you will hang to death by those same entrails."

As the rest of the girls and I paled and shrunk in alarm (Asa gagged at nearly every word), Itsuki politely replied, "We will choose to elect one of us to speak on our behalf. May we conduct a brief discussion to choose one?"

"You may."

"You have my gratitude," Itsuki said, bowing deeply. He turned to us, looking very calm for the situation. "How's it going, guys?"

"How do you think?" Asa growled.

"Do you want me to give this attorney thing a shot?" he offered.

"I suppose…" I said. Itsuki was, by far, the most knowledgeable of any of us about both law and the Demon Realm, so it would make sense.

"Itsuki-tan really is smart," Tsubomi said, smiling proudly at her fiancée despite her own blatant shivering from fear. "He can definitely get us out of this mess!"

"Thanks, my gorgeous lover!" he said, leaning over and kissing her briefly on the lips.

"All in favor of this douche saving our lives, raise your hand," Primula commanded, who was seated on my right and holding my arm against her chest.

Everyone but Asa and Primula raised their hand.

"What would you suggest, Asa-sempai?" I asked her politely. She was also sitting right next to me, and had her right hand resting on my upper thigh.

"Well, I think you'd be better, Rin-kun," she said, blushing and raising her eyes to meet mine, shyly.

I blushed back, and looked at Primula. "Is that what you were going to suggest, too?"

She nodded, her half-closed eyes gazing at me gently.

I cleared my throat. "I appreciate the support, but I'm not really able to think too clearly at the moment. I also haven't studied this stuff nearly as much as Itsuki-kun, and he's even able to remain composed, which I can't do right now, either."

"That's fine, then," Asa said. "I just wanted to make sure that you know that I'll always back you. It wouldn't even matter if you DID turn completely evil, which you might with Moonbite being inside you like this – I'll always be at your side, even if you don't want me. Even if you forget me. Even if you hurt me…" She turned my head to meet her brazen, dedicated gaze. We were both blushing tremendously. "I'll always follow you and be yours."

I was so enraptured that I momentarily lost the ability to breathe.

"Awww! That was so adorable, I think I might die!" Tsubomi cheered.

Primula flipped Asa off and Matsuri flipped me off.

"BUH-ARF!" Daisy yelled. "Who the fuck could possibly want to hear that kind of sappy, pathetic shit?"

"So, do we have an accord, then?" Itsuki asked me. He was in total business mode.

"Yes, I think so," I said, trying to focus on the situation at hand and not the fact that both Asa and Primula were holding onto me much tighter than before. I tried to will myself to keep Nerine in my mind. I had to save her before I could dishonor her by having feelings for another woman. There was no doubt in my mind now, though, that I had very real feelings for Asa, and probably Primula, too. It is a great shame that neither were gods. Daisy was, though…and I was slowly beginning to entertain the idea of marrying her, although I'd have to figure out how to make her just a little bit less psychotic, I think. That, and she's a very weird person, and seems to hate me, although I think she may like me more than she lets on, given her actions in the arena.

Nerine needed my support and loyalty now, though. It was up to me to save her from any further abuse and suffering! It was solely my fault that she was doing this…I had to get out of this fucking courtroom as soon as possible and get back on her trail!

"Alright then," Itsuki replied, taking a deep breath and standing up again. "Your Honor, we have decided on myself as the speaker for the defense."

"Very well. We shall begin with a presentation of the prosecutor's claims against this group. Velorik-san?"

"Thank you, Your Honor," the blue-haired demon said. He was wearing a suit, had slicked-back hair, and wore a blatantly fake smile that was eerily reminiscent of Kaede's. "Ladies and gentlemen of the court, we have before you a group of criminals so heinous that they will assuredly affect the course of history as we know it!" People gasped. "That is, only if we do not condemn them!"

I looked at my friends, wide-eyed. I knew we'd done SOME questionable stuff, but this Velorik dick seemed to be overreacting like crazy, compared to the other cooks we'd encountered recently.

"All evidence suggests that these villains are party to some broad, overarching plot from foreign lands." Velorik grinned craftily as the crowd drew breath as one. "It is fortunate that we rooted them out before they were able to report back to the God Realm."

"Objection, your honor," Itsuki said, standing up, looking baffled. "This is all baseless conjecture. He's clearly making broad, sweeping statements without backing them up with anything!"

"Objection sustained, Human-san. Let us get on with the evidence, Velorik-san."

The lawyer didn't bat an eye, and began walking pompously around the floor. "Absolutely, Your Honor. You want facts, I'll give you facts. This morning, as the police records show," here, he smoothly passed a folder of records to the judge, "this entire group was caught breaking and entering in our restricted government building, Suite 17 of the Gigalith apartment. Several witnesses saw them enter, so we apprehended them as they exited. Within this building, they would have had access to limitless, top-secret government matters. It is for that reason, alone, that they must be executed as soon as possible."

"Agreed, Velorik-san. Do you wish to respond the honorable demon's argument thus far, Human-san?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Itsuki said, his forehead creased in thought. "We did indeed enter the building in question, and we were arrested there. However, we did so without the knowledge of it being a restricted or government building."

Velorik snorted. "A likely story."

"Go fuck yourself," Daisy recommended, drawing a fiery glare from the judge.

"You see, we aren't spies, but looking for someone very important, on behalf of the Devil-King Forbesii-sama, himself."

"Did it not occur to you to simply call the building's security and ask if this person, supposing they actually exist, was inside?" Velorik mused.

"It did not occur to us at the time," Itsuki said with hesitation. "As I said, we certainly did break and enter, but without knowing it was a forbidden area."

The judge spoke up. "Yet the entire building was invisible and protected by password! If your story is to be believed, you would have to be an incredibly imperceptive person to think that such a place was not off-limits. I do not think it likely that you could obtain the password and enter without some knowledge of breaking into government property."

"I agree," Velorik said. "Moreover, I would like to present to the court-"

"Wait, I have more to say!" Itsuki exclaimed.

"No, you're done. Go on, Velorik-san," the judge ruled.

"As I was saying," Velorik continued, holding another folder above his head as irrefutable evidence, "This is clearly much too strange a group for the Devil-King to send. There is not a single true demon among them!"

The crowd murmured, though I couldn't tell what their reaction was.

"Although this "Rin" looks like one of us, scans of his soul's infrastructure indicate that he is really some magically altered human, clearly formed as either a spy or as an attempt to humiliate us true demons with a deficient copy!"

The crowd roared in support of Velorik this time. I just frowned and concentrated on trying to keep my cool.

"The little girl known as "Primula" is also not really a demon, but in fact a horrific artificial life form, having no biological origin. This can only be taken as evidence that the gods are experimenting with ways to infiltrate our innocent land with dangerous spies, seeking to bring us down! We must kill both of these monstrosities immediately!"

The crowd screamed with approval, this time. Primula looked quite upset, so I held her against my chest, caressing her shoulder gently. Itsuki was calling over and over again for an objection. The judge struck her gavel and called for order.

Once Itsuki was finally given the go-ahead to speak, he stood while Velorik sat down, looking quite satisfied. "I object; the fact that Rin-kun and Primula-chan are genetically modified has nothing to do with our being here. It is simply a coincidence."

"Their presence together seems to be too unlikely to a coincidence to be ignored in this case, Human-san," the judge said.

"But it really does have nothing to do with the matter at hand."

"Oh, but it does," the judge remarked. "None of you are demons, as the honorable Velorik-san pointed out. Two of you are gods, moreover, whom a demon should never associate with. Therefore, your earlier fib about working for the Devil-King seems even less likely. Tell me, do you have any evidence at all that can support that claim?"

"Yes," I said, standing up and taking from my pocket the beautiful ring that Forbesii gave me. "Forbesii-sama gave me this ring, which I am to deliver to the person we are seeking. He also gave me some funds for our journey," I said, putting the cash on the table, next to the ring. "There must be some trace of DNA, fingerprints, or something that leads back to Forbesii-sama."

"Confiscate these materials, guards, and analyze them," the judge said, and an armored demon approached and grabbed the stuff. I winced to see the ring leave my sight before I could give it to Nerine.

"Objection, Your Honor," the prosecutor sneered. "One miserable ring and some money can't possibly support these dangerous criminals' claim that they broke into our base and stole our secrets on the orders of our King. They could have just stolen it from him, or, he could indeed have given it to this fake demon, not realizing what kind of creature he was…that has nothing to do with their treasonous actions!"

I silently wished a painful death on the prosecutor.

"Objection denied," the judge said, taking a sip from a mug of some unknown beverage. "This will give us basic evidence of whether there is any truth at all to what they are saying about being aligned with Forbesii-sama." She looked at Itsuki. "You. Human-san."

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"Who is it that you claim to be looking for, on behalf of Forbesii-sama?"

"That is top-secret information, I believe," Itsuki said, making eye-contact with me as I nodded an affirmation. "But it is of utmost importance to the Devil-King that we continue our search and find this person, if at all possible."

The judge nodded slowly. "I see."

"If I may, I have one last piece of evidence I'd like to present before summoning the witnesses, Your Honor," Velorik said, gesturing pretentiously.

"Go right ahead."

Velorik scoffed and approached the bench where we sat. "Our investigators noticed a piece of spy equipment on one of the spy gods."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded crossly.

Velorik walked over and plucked something from the wide-eyed Daisy's large breast, a small piece of metal decoration that I hadn't noticed before.

"How dare you!" she snarled, holding her breast protectively with one hand while getting out of her seat to glare at Velorik with renewed vigor.

"What is this fixture, my young god harlot?" Velorik asked her, taking some steps back and holding the tiny, glittering metal for all to see.

"I-it's just a piece of jewelry," Daisy growled. Uh-oh. She was nervous. What the hell? What is it, anyway? And how dare she wear something like that, which could jeopardize our mission?

"Hmm, I see," Velorik said, taking the badge apart. "Then, you mean to say that you had no idea that this was an intricately designed radio/video-transmitter that is broadcasting everything it observes to another dimension?"

Everyone was silent. What…the…FUCK, Daisy? Asa caressed me and held me tightly, in an effort to calm my burning rage. Daisy shakily lowered herself back to her seat.

"You see, Your Honor, this flashing light within?" Velorik said, showing it to the judge, who paled at the sight. "This make of radio/video-transmitters is known to me. Rasba is the company name." He whirled around to speak to the audience. "Who is to say how many of our precious government secrets have already been leaked to the gods? This act may well lead to war!"

Everyone behind us cheered. Apparently this city was just itching to go to war with the God Realm.

"Do you have a response, Human-san?" the judge addressed Itsuki, who stood up, looking irritated.

"No, except that…none of us knew that she was wearing such a transmitter."

"A pathetic defense!" Velorik snorted.

The judge nodded as the now-humbled Itsuki sank back to his seat. "We will now move into the witness stage of the proceedings. Velorik-san, you have the floor."

* * *

The first witness was the captain of Bark's family guild, whom we'd left bleeding in the desert. After he swore to speak the truth and introduced himself, Velorik began interviewing him.

"You say you encountered this group of rabble yesterday, correct, Oku-san?"

"Maaaan, I don't even know what the fuckin' shit a rabble is, or some shit, and guess what, bitch – I don't CARE! hhhHHHAAAAHH! But I'm like, just, minding my own fucking business, jus-jus-jus-taking care of BUSINESS or some shit, you know what I'm saying? hhhHHHAAAAHH! Fuck it. Just suck my dick, you now what I'm saying? And then, like, while I was finishing up or some shit, I heard my clan's fuckin' whistle, you know what I'm saying? It goes like this…"

Before Velorik could stop him, Bark's eldest brother issued a screeching, nightmarishly-loud whistle.

"And what that means, you know what I'm saying, is like, uh, there's, like, some trespassers or some shit, on my fucking property, know what I'm saying? hhhHHHAAAAHH!"

"You hear that?" Velorik exclaimed to the jury. "They TRESPASSED!"

"Don't interrupt me, ya big faggot!" Oku chuckled. "Pissing on my dick, hhhHHHAAAAHH! So, like, if I remember correctly, I came running, or some shit, and here the fuck was this bitch-ass eunuch fuck here," he said, pointing at me.

Asa and Primula both needlessly, but welcomely, hugged me for support. Their warm, stimulated bodies felt more soothing pressed up against me than I imagined nearly anything else possibly could.

"And he was asking me for the prostitutes that I bought or some shit, you know what I'm saying? hhhHHHAAAAHH!"

"He's a thief, then!" Velorik screamed, pointing at me.

"For sure, or some shit, at least. I mean, I gotta be keepin' what's rightfully mine, or some shit! I paid for them titties, I'm-a keeping em. That is, that's what I would say if I still had 'em, or some shit, but the damn semen-dripping bitch that they're lookin' for, she done run off or some shit, you what I'm saying? hhhHHHAAAAHH! So, what do I do? I jus-jus try to be nice and offer 'em the use of some of our hoes, right, while complimenting the fantastic fuckin' looks of their OWN bitches, you know what I'm saying? And then, then, then…they up and started fighting us. Like, fucking mowing me and my brothers down, one by one! They killed most of us, I'm not even gonna lie to ya, and it was completely motherfucking balls-up unwarranted, or some shit, you what I'm saying? hhhHHHAAAAHH!"

Itsuki stood up and cleared his throat gently. "If I may…"

"Oh, absolutely," Velorik sneered. "Try and worm your way out of it, there's a good lad."

"Why thank you, honorable prosecutor," Itsuki said, bowing his head a moment. "Now, Oku-san, do you mean to be saying that you had not first kidnapped one of our team, and were not impaling her on a sword at the time of attack?"

"Well yeah, but, I mean, ain't no fat, green-haired bitches like her that are gonna be saying no to my motherfucking pleasuring her or some shit!" Oku laughed gregariously, looking around and holding his arms out in an effort to look like an everyman.

"You were torturing Asa-sempai, correct?"

"Yup! Her pussy and asshole were DAMN awesome! I daresay she's a virgin, too, which is, you know, pretty rare for a prostitute," Oku grinned sunnily.

"And we only attacked you after you had been mutilating her, is that correct?"

"Yup, I don't even know why you'd jump a man when he's pleasuring himself on a fresh young slut! That's pretty dishonorable of you, you gay fucker! You should know better!"

Velorik massaged his temples. "This isn't important," he said to the jury and judge. "The fact is, this dangerous young group turned to violence and mass mayhem as their first resort. This, as you will see, is only one of many altercations they have been involved with in the past few days."

"It is completely important," Itsuki pressed. "We may have been quick to attack, but to contend that it was unprovoked is preposterous!"

As Velorik was about to argue back, the judge intervened. "I, unfortunately, agree with the human here, Velorik-san. Now, get this…APE out of my witness box!"

"Oh, you know you want some of this dick, Your Fucking Honor!" Oku said, standing up and stroking his erect cock in front of her, through his loincloth. "All you gotta do is ask, or some shit, you know wh…"

"Alright, here we go," Velorik hurriedly came up and dragged Oku down from the floor, as some of the winged demons circling the courtroom had begun to aim at him.

Oku ran his slime-covered hand through Primula's hair as he walked by, and I could feel her whole body tense up in preparation for murderous retribution.

"Easy, Primu-chan, easy," I murmured, holding her close and massaging her cheek and neckbones. Her body immediately loosened up, and she cuddled up to me again, the smell of her activated pheromones wafting up to my nose.

Itsuki was able to sway the judge on that one, but I was worried that the next witnesses wouldn't be so easy to vilify.

* * *

Next, I was dismayed to see the manager of Phantom Fair get led in. He looked quite happy this time, and I was confused why he would be, at first, but then I realized that he thought he might get some publicity for his dying park this way.

As the manager introduced himself and took the oath, Itsuki began quickly thumbing through a book of law that he had requested from the court, clearly seeking a direction for us to pursue in our quest for innocence and getting the fuck out of here.

Once the obtuse man squished into the witness box, Velorik leaned back against his own bench and began speaking to the jury, judge, and audience in his inimitable way. "This demon you see before you is one owner of none other than the sole theme park with rides entirely composed of living matter."

"And they're each living, too," the manager put in with a goofy grin.

"Indeed, and that is very important for this case, so I'm glad you brought it up, Naniyo-san. Now then, this man is well-respected as a scientist, and is an honest businessman who's running a true miracle of technology."

Naniyo, the manager, looked positively delighted to be having so many positive things being said about him in one breath.

"Now then, can you tell me what happened yesterday when the group entered your park?"

"Well, they came in without paying…" Naniyo began.

"NO!" Velorik gasped dramatically, looking out at the audience with significance. Dutifully, they all gasped as well.

"S-so then I gave them my welcome routine, offering them to ride whatever they wanted for free, and explaining the nature of my creations' lives."

"And, what is that nature, exactly? Do they have emotions? Aspirations? Can they feel love and pain?" Velorik questioned about the matter with such false concern in his voice that I felt like taking a chainsaw to his throat.

"Oh, absolutely, my babies are as alive as you and me. They love, and get great pleasure and feelings of accomplishment from giving people rides. They are completely sentient, are easily hurt, but have no degree of aggression. In a sense, they are more pure, good life forms than a normal person of one of the three races."

"That is fascinating," Velorik gasped theatrically. "So, what did this group of infidels do, upon hearing the nature of these living beings?" he asked, pointing at us.

Everyone at our table was wincing, especially Daisy.

"Well, after saying that they were unnatural, unlikable, and generally insulting them, despite my babies' capacity to contain only pure feelings," Naniyo said, sniffling. "They…they KILLED MY KOKO-CHAN!" he broke down and started crying.

I looked around the room and saw the demons in attendance all looking very sympathetic to the manager. Many were also tearing up.

"And, um…who was Koko-chan?" Velorik asked comfortingly.

"She was one of the pods on my loop-de-loop," Naniyo sobbed. "She was a very sweet and sensitive girl, and all she wanted was someone to ride on her and love her."

"Why did they kill her, though? Was there any reason?"

"No, they were just offended by their existence…"

"You see?" Velorik said gravely, turning back to the audience. "These gods and their genetically-modified servants are all completely against our brilliant, pure creation! It's jealousy, that's what it is, and we must NOT stand for them seeking to destroy our culture!" he roared.

The audience applauded. Velorik bowed and took a seat.

"May I ask the witness some questions, Your Honor?" Itsuki asked. Tsubomi was massaging his leg as he stood up.

"Yes, go ahead, Human-san," the judge said with a nod.

"Thank you, Your Honor. Now, Naniyo-san, do you recall what my group said we were looking for at your park?"

"Uh, y-yes…" he sniffled.

"What was it?"

"You were looking for a demon girl with blue hair, wh-who you said had gone there," he said twisting nervously.

"Right," Itsuki said with a nod, looking at the judge and jury significantly. "Do you also remember refusing to give the location of the Coquelicot Club, which is located under your park?"

"Yes, but…I didn't think you were going to kill my Koko-chan for that…"

"Indeed. That was a mistake, and we regret it completely."

"Regret doesn't mean a thing in the face of cold-blooded MURDER!" Velorik sneered from his chair. "And, who cares if you claimed you were looking for someone there? Is it not possible that you simply used that same story as an excuse here as well?"

"I agree with both of those sentiments," Itsuki nodded, "but I was just pointing out that we have not changed our story, and, therefore, we are more likely to be telling the truth. Especially if we only slaughtered one of Naniyo-san's rides in order to pressure him into locating the club, which supposedly was housing the girl we are looking for." Itsuki looked to Naniyo. "Can you confirm that we were holding your rides hostage in order to discern the location of the Coquelicot club?"

"Y-yes, I can. But you guys are mean…"

"Yes we are. And, do you recall telling us that the girl we were looking for was probably inside this club?"

"…I do."

"So, everyone," Itsuki turned to the audience, but with much more calmness than Velorik had. "Does this evidence not seem to hint that our story is correct, in that we are actually desperately looking for one single person, rather than randomly attacking places and disturbing the peace in order to carry out some supposed god-ordained agenda? I implore you to ask yourselves which makes more sense, as a story. Thank you." Itsuki sat, and Tsubomi immediately enveloped him in a passionate hug. Daisy lightly patted him on the back, too.

"Are there no more questions for the witness?" the judge asked. "Very well. Call in the third and final witness for the prosecution."

As Naniyo was lead out, I jumped in my seat when Moonbite appeared in her Cyclops form, towering over me. Her eyes were only on me.

I turned to Asa and Primula, but both of them were only looking at me in concern. The air grew frigid and decayed around me.

"MMmmmm, my little…SSSSSSSS!...Rin-kun…it seems like you'vvvvve…got yourself in trouble…again!" she sneered, green pus dripping from her fangs.

I nodded.

"It seems as though…MMMM…you're not learning, my dear, little slut! All these bad things keep happening to you because…why? Oh, yes, because you're IGNORING MY WILL!"

Huh. She definitely had my full attention, now.

"You ARE me, you pathetic…MMMMEMEM…FUCK! Your inability to act according to your nature is causing a….HHHHHMMMMMM…dissonance. And, since you're not…learning, do you know what negative outcome awaits you next?" She leaned over, her rotting, tentacle-covered face pressing into mine. It was like looking into the face of insanity. "Primula."

"P-Primu-chan?" I asked, my blood turning cold.

Primula looked at me in concern, still not noticing the monster I was mouth-to-mouth with. "What's the matter, Rin-kun?" she asked in her incredibly cute voice.

"I…will kill her…" Moonbite whispered, her creamy, rotten tongue slurping against my face.

I gasped.

"If you don't stop this pointless quest now, and give in to being me…I will kill her myself…" she sounded eerily serious. "Do you understand? Do you want her to die?"

I shook my head as emphatically as possible.

Her mouth twisted into a hideous, black, bleeding-gummed smile. "Goood. Then you must become one with me, one with ME, my precious Rin-kun." Her gigantic, pus-covered hand caressed the side of my head. "You won't get another warning. It will be no one's fault…HMMMMMMMM!...but your own, if she dies. I trust you'll do the right thing."

She disappeared in a flash, leaving me shaken. What…could I possibly do NOW? Maybe if I'm always holding onto Primula? Damn it, but maybe Moonbite will kill her by using me. I am her now, after all. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck! WHY DOES PRIMULA HAVE TO DIE?

* * *

The final witness was the ruby-haired owner of the woman-renting bar, the Oceliquot Club. Still wearing a suit of revealing armor, she made sure to slide her finger down the chin of many demons as she walked down the aisle to the witness box. She took her oath and introduced herself as Kerinna. I could barely keep myself interested in the proceedings now, though, instead just looking at Primula furtively, thinking solely about her. I want to save Nerine, too! It's not fair! What business is it of Moonbite's, who lives and dies! FUCK! I distracted myself from my disturbing questions by observing what Kerinna had to say.

"So, Kerinna-san, have you encountered these lowlifes before, in your bar?" Velorik began.

She nodded, looking at each of us with half-closed, smiling eyes. "Mmmm, yesss…they came in yesterday."

"And what did they do?" Velorik continued. "Did they behave like normal customers, ordering a drink and possibly a prostitute to bring home?"

"No, but I wish they did!" Kerinna said, pouting as she glared at us prettily. "I offered them my girls for free, and they still turned them down."

"Did you feel insulted? That these foreigners were turning away your pureblood, demon-born girls?"

"Yes I did!" Kerinna shouted, as if she had only just now realized her feelings on the subject.

"Now; did they cause any disturbances therein? It seems they have a way of causing damage, wherever they go."

"Yes," Kerinna said, folding her arms. "They slaughtered all my prized warriors, murdering everyone, when they were only supposed to knock them unconscious, for sport."

"I see, that's horrible!"

"They even killed my precious Ziroktula beast, which had cost me millions of kals to capture! Now, it's all wasted!"

"That's unthinkable! Despicable, even."

"Yeah, yeah, and, guess what? After that…" Kerinna took a deep breath. "The demon man there, with the ugly face? He hadn't had enough, and went after me! He beat me up, knocking my face against a wooden bar over and over again! And then he stomped on my neck a few times! He could have killed me! It's a miracle I survived! Then, to insult me further, he didn't even pay me for letting him beat me up…" She looked quite despondent.

"It's alright, it's all over now. Very soon, he will be munching on his own, sliced-up genitals," Velorik said, patting the prostitute consolingly on her bare shoulder. She blushed and smiled shyly at him, pulling his hand down inside her armor so he could feel her breasts.

The judge knocked her gavel. "Velorik-san, you will not molest the witness in this sacred chamber."

Velorik jumped and hurriedly withdrew his hand. Kerinna gasped in pleasure, arching her back. "I…I have no further questions for the witness," he said nervously, returning to his seat while trying unsuccessfully to hide his erection.

The judge nodded and turned to Itsuki. "Human-san, do you have anything you wish to ask the witness?"

"Yes," he said, rising again. "Um, Kerinna-san, do you remember my client," he began, gesturing at me, "asking you about whether a missing person with blue hair was employed as one of your girls?"

"I do not!" Kerinna lied. "He and the violet-haired slut there just went berserk and killed everyone."

"Who does she think she's calling a slut?" I heard Daisy whisper to Matsuri.

"So," Itsuki said, stroking his chin. "How was it that my client wound up fighting your prized warriors, then?"

"He found his way there, somehow, and killed them, just for the sport of it. I think he just hates all demons!" the prostitute pouted, folding her arms.

"Ah. My client claims that he fought your warriors as part of an agreement with you."

"No!" she snapped.

"He says you promised to show him your records…"

"No way!"

"…which contained the missing person's information…"

"Shut up!"

"…if he fought for you for entertainment purposes."

"NO!"

"Is this not true?"

"Shut up, stop talking to me, you tiny-dicked fuck!" the prostitute roared. "Why are you ignoring me? I said, NO!"

"Human-san, please stop infuriating the witness," the judge ruled.

"My apologies, Your Honor," Itsuki said. "Now, then Kerinna-san, I have one last question for you."

She glowered at him for a bit but eventually nodded, her eyes closed.

"What instigated my client's assault on you? You've already described the result…"

"I already told you, he just ravenously attacked me, for no reason at all! I kept trying to offer him my best girls, to calm him down, but he was just set on hurting me! He's a perverted, sadist freak!"

"Do you remember anything about when he first approached you?"

"I think so. The memory's kind of hazy, though."

"Tell us about it."

"I came forward to congratulate him on killing so many great warriors, despite the fact that they meant so much to me. I only wanted him to calm down and not hurt anyone else, you see," the woman continued to lie. "But he just called me an ugly demon whore and started mutilating me! That's it."

"I-I see. Thank you for your time," Itsuki said, bowing politely.

"Fuck off," she growled, tossing her hair. She was soon led from the floor.

"Now then," the judge said, "Would the defense's first witness come up to the floor?"

"I, uh, could we take a brief recess?" Itsuki asked in a small voice. "We need time to gather our witnesses, you see."

Although Velorik was shaking his head in as strong opposition to the idea as he could muster, the judge nodded and said, "Agreed. You will have six hours to yourselves in our prison cells. You should therein say your last goodbyes to one another. I trust this will be sufficient?"

"Absolutely! Thank you, Your Honor," Itsuki bowed to her again.

I hugged both Primula and Asa to comfort them as we stood up to be escorted to the prison cell. I hoped Itsuki had some trick up his sleeve. I didn't have a great read on the jury's opinion so far, but I would guess that they were siding against us at the moment, seeing as they were all from this bigoted city and were mostly dancing in the palm of Velorik's hand.

I must find a way to protect everyone! I can't have anyone else getting hurt from my mistakes…

I took comfort in the exquisite shape of Primula's back, which was covered only by a very thin shirt, as I followed her into the darkness of the Soul City. My temptations to give in to her desperate romantic advances grew every day…maybe it wouldn't be so bad to give her what she wanted? She, and the rest of us anyway, might die soon, and I'm not yet married…also I'm not sure what to do about Asa, since I don't want to infuriate Matsuri. I owe myself to Nerine, now, too. Damn. This is such a touchy situation.

I guess I'll wait and see, once we get to the cell…

I could feel Moonbite's eye on me as we were lead through the darkness. She was waiting…waiting for me to embrace my insanity. Demanding for me to.

What can I do? Please, Divine Scionness, God, ANY HIGHER POWER! Help me!

* * *

**A/N: **Tee-hee, I wish this story was an anime. I think it would at least give Higurashi and Elfen Lied a run for most gross-out/psychotic moments. And then I'd start to get blamed for school shootings and suicides and all that kind of fun stuff. (I'm drunk at the moment, so I apologize if I'm being slightly offensive)

Wow, both Rin and Kaede found themselves in a bad place in this chapter! This story is stressing me out! I hope you guys are feeling the heat! Let me know if you'd like Rin to buckle down and try to make some progress with one of his party members! :)

Also, just for the record, I don't have a scat fetish. At all. I find the very thought abominable. Hence, its presence in this story as a horror item. So, don't go thinking that I'm into the whole shit-smearing thing. B/c then I'd be sad or some shit. :(

A few notes about missing details surrounding the story:

1. The gods can only heal if the wound was incurred within 12 hours prior. That is why Rin's original eye never grew back despite all of Sia's healing sessions all those chapters ago.

2. "Itsuki's weapon" that Rin refers to in the Gigalith Apartment is a spiral sword he acquired during the fight with the Binral Guild (Bark's family).

3. Moonbite wasn't lying; Kaede has killed Rin, against Moonbite's will, many times in other versions of reality. This is part of the reason for Moonbite's slip into insanity.

4. Kaede is on the pill. Whether that will do any good against Moonbite's magically-altered seed remains to be seen, however.

If you want more, then review! If you hated it, then also review! And, if you have more questions, I'd be thrilled to answer them!

Also, thanks, everyone who regularly reviews. You're the only reason this story is still going. :)

Ciao!

p.s. - I'll give cake to anyone who catches the Ar tonelico reference in this chapter!


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